Chobits continues
by Shark Byte
Summary: After a year in prep school, Hideki still can't pass his college entrance exam. But will his second year be any different? Chi thinks so, and she is learning more every day. But what if Chi gets into college and Hideki doesn't? Chapter 23 posted August 15, 2013. After weeks on tour, Freya is in town for a few days.
1. Failure

Foreword:

This is NOT a stand-on-its-own Chobits story; it's a plaintext continuation (sequel), picking up not far from where Chobits left off.

So, if you haven't watched it yet, stop right there, bookmark a link to this fanfic, and go enjoy the animated version of Chobits first. (It can be found on you tube.)

And **then** come back here. This fanfic won't make a lot of sense if you haven't first watched the anime, or at least read the manga.

One brief note about the dialogue:  
Those words that are enclosed in braces {} are the characters' thoughts, and are not (at least not meant to be) spoken out loud.  
And anything in brackets [] is my comments.

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(Note: on 3/9/2013, I updated chapters 1 thru 8 to explain the whereabouts of 2 mobile persocoms)

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* * *

Chapter 1: Failure

* * *

Chi Motosuwa stood in the open doorway, looking down with those big bright persocom eyes at her human, the one just for Chi. She had returned home to find Hideki curled up in a little ball on the floor, crying.

Closing the door, she approached him, bewildered at the sight. "Chiii?"

Slowly, Hideki turned his head to reveal one eye and about half his nose. "..I.."

"Hideki, what's wrong?", Chi asked him from across the room, putting her money away for safe keeping.

Hideki turned back over again, burying his face firmly in the mat. "..I.."

Chi got right down on the floor with him, her head on the mat, looking right into the ... corner of his eye. "Something happen?"

"..I.. FAILED! AAAAAAUUUUuuuuuhh..." Hideki was clutching in his hand a piece of paper. It was the results of his college entrance exam. He let Chi see it. The word "Rejected" was stamped diagonally across the page in huge red letters.

Chi glanced briefly at the paper. "Is that bad?", she asked, before actually reading it.

Hideki sat up, still in tears. "It's bad. I failed my entrance exam."

"Hideki failed exam? No college?", she appeared to be saying to the paper, which she was holding up in the air in front of her. She was reading it now.

Tears streamed from Hideki's bloodshot eyes. "No college." He was sitting against the wall, his hands limp on the floor beside him.

Chi lowered the paper, still looking at it; she knew how much Hideki wanted to get into college. "Chiii..."

She reached out a hand to Hideki's wet face, then drew it back. "Hideki, no energy, tears from eyes.."

A few seconds which seemed like minutes passed in silence, the room still, the air black and mournful.

"Look at yummies?", Chi suggested, holding out one of Hideki's magazines.

Hideki shook his head. "Somehow I just don't feel like looking at those today... Thanks for the thought, though."

{...Thanks for the thought...} Chi thought some more. "Okay to hug?"

Finally, Hideki's eyes began to open to more than just slits, and he actually looked at chi, who didn't wait for him to say anything before hugging. She had read the answer in his eyes.

As they clung to one another, Chi noticed that Hideki's tears had still not stopped. If anything, there seemed to be more of them. "Hideki still sad?"

Hideki, smiling a little, wiped his face on his sleeve. "I'm ok, Chi."

Some of his tears were on Chi. She picked two of them up on her index fingers and examined them closely, as if trying to tell them apart. "Happy tears or sad tears?"

Hideki almost laughed watching Chi examine two individual tears. "Both. Sad because I failed my exam; but happy because I am together with Chi."

They continued their embrace... zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz

* * *

"FWEEEEEEEEEEET!"

Chi and Hideki awoke to the rude, shrill sound of Sumomo's whistle. They had both fallen asleep right there on the floor.

And as Sumomo led Hideki and Chi in their morning exercises, Kokoto continued right on sleeping. She had taken to sleeping with plugs in her ears, and she would wake up when she was good and ready to wake up.

After the exercises, Hideki closed his eyes again in resignation. "Ehh, another year of prep school. Maybe I won't fall so far behind this time..."

"Telephone, telephone!", Sumomo announced. It was Shinbo. "Oy, Motosuwa, you ready for college?"

Hideki groaned, and Shinbo knew what that meant. "You didn't get in, did you?"

"No...", Hideki replied in a dismal tone. "What about you, Shinbo? Going to college and taking care of a family, too?"

"Yeah, it's going to be tough for awhile...", Shinbo told him. "Fact is, we're going to really need Sumomo. Can you bring her to class? Takako is teaching again this year."

"Sure, no problem...", Hideki deadpanned.

"Don't worry, you'll get in next year, Motosuwa! Later..."

Hideki hung up the phone and stood up, and Chi took that as her cue to cheer. "Hideki, fight"

"Thanks, Chi." Hideki picked up his wallet and headed for the door. "I'm off to buy some school supplies.."

"Take care.", she called after him.  
And Hideki was gone.  
But Chi could tell that he was still feeling down.

* * *

Next: Chi tries to get Hideki ready to face another full year of prep school.


	2. CHOCOLATE

2: CHOCOLATE

* * *

At her job at the Sweets Shop, Manager Ueda noticed that Chi was not her usual cheerful self. "You ok, Chi?"

"Hideki Failed exam.", she explained sadly. "No college. No energy."

"He failed his college entrance exam again?" Mr. Ueda stared out the window into the distance, like he was trying to comprehend the depths of Hideki's misfortune. "You know, Chi, I think I have something in the back that could at least help..." He went into the storeroom and returned with a dusty can with a brown label on it. "In here is some chocolate syrup that is too old to sell. You could bake him some chocolate cake with this."

Chi sniffed at the can. "Old chocolate?..."

"Chocolate! That's happy food!", Sumomo cheered.

Ueda handed her the can. "I'm sure it's still ok. For some reason, chocolate always seems to cheer people up, at least somewhat. Here, I'll get you the other ingredients too, no charge. Everything but the butter, we seem to be out of that."

Chi appeared to cheer up, a little. "Thank you. Chi will try."

And on the way home, Chi bought some butter for Hideki's cake.  
She also bought a bit of something that was just for Chi.

* * *

Back at the apartment, she saw that Hideki had already brought home his new school supplies, and had left again to work at the pub. With the ingredients and her experience from work, she should have no trouble at all baking a nice thick chocolate syrup cake for Hideki.

Or so she thought.

Chi turned the can labelled "chocolate" over and over, looking for the pull tab. Every can she'd ever opened had had one. "Chiii?" She tried pulling at the rim of the can, thinking maybe the whole top would pull off. She tried scratching it open; she tried twisting it open. It didn't open. "Chiii..."

"Sumomo will open it!", Sumomo announced. And Sumomo hit the can with some fancy-looking karate moves. It didn't open. "Uwwww...", she sighed. "That can is defective!"

Late at night, Ms. Hibiya heard a knock at the door. It was Chi, holding a beat up old can with a brown label on it. "Can won't open, no pull tab."

"Oh, that must be an old can." Ms. Hibiya told her cheerfully, taking the can as they both went inside her apartment. "I think I have something around here that can open that." Rummaging through a drawer in her kitchen, Hibiya pulled out a strange-looking piece of metal with a pointy end on it.

Chi picked up the pointy metal thing. "Chiii."

"Now, where did I set that can down?", wondered Ms. Hibiya, looking around. "Oh.. I just had it in my hand a moment ag... No, wait! Not like that!"

!CRUNCH!

It was too late. Chi had opened the can. Sort of. The handle of the can opener was sticking out the top of the can, the pointy end was sticking out the side, and chocolate syrup was leaking out on the countertop. "Chiii?!"

Laughing, Ms. Hibiya quickly put a bowl under the leaking can of chocolate syrup. "If you need any more help, I'll still be awake for a while."

Chi easily completed the recipe, and soon she had a freshly-baked chocolate syrup cake, ready to cheer up her Hideki.

* * *

Hideki's_Brain  
This application has encountered  
a problem and needs to close.  
Sorry for any inconvenience.

* * *

In the hallway outside could be heard the muffled sound of Hideki. "Whoa, I smell chocolate!" He opened the door to the apartment. "Chi... is that what I think it is?"

Chi was waiting for him at the door. "Welcome home!"  
And this time it was Hideki that was going "Chiiii" as they were hugging.

He ate some cake before dinner, some with dinner, and some after dinner.

"ZzzZZzZzz Zzzzzzzz zzzZZzZzzz"

* * *

"FWEEEEEEET!"

The next morning, he had some more cake with breakfast. And it did seem to have cheered him up a bit...

"This year, I'm NOT GONNA FAIL!"

"Hideki, fighto!" (Both of them were doing a two-fisted cheer)

"Don't forget Sumomo!", Sumomo reminded him.

Hideki picked up his books, and Sumomo. "I'm off to class."

"Take care"  
The door closed, and Chi smiled contentedly.

* * *

Next Chapter: "Bring Chi to school with me?"


	3. Bring her with me?

3: Bring her with me?

* * *

"-Motosuwa, you want to take three years?", Ms. Shimizu called out.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Hideki awakened from his daydream. He had been staring idly out the window. Again. {agh, why can't I focus on anything?}

"It's probably because you're preoccupied with Chi." Ms. Shimizu was right beside his desk.

Hideki, looking surprised, put his hand over his mouth. "What? Did I say that out loud?"

Ms. Shimizu smiled knowingly at Hideki. "Ah, Mr. Motosuwa, you do tend to talk to yourself."

Hideki blushed, but said nothing.

"Maybe you could bring her to class with you. Some of the other students are bringing mobile persocoms." Shimizu-sensei gestured towards some other students, their persocoms perched on their desks.

Hideki nervously scratched at the back of his head. "B - Bring her with me? I can do that?"

Shimizu leaned against the desk. "I don't see why not. In fact, I think if you're helping Chi to learn, that might help you focus."

"Um...Yeah" Hideki was blushing even more.

"Oh, that reminds me..." He opened his backpack, and Sumomo hopped out onto Ms. Shimizu's hand. She returned to her desk, talking to Sumomo as she went. Something about an appointment.

And for the next 20 minutes, Hideki actually managed to pay ... some ... attention in class.

About halfway through what would have been a normal-length class, Sumomo tugged on Shimizu's sleeve. "Time for appointment, time for appointment!", she announced, doing a fancy dance on the edge of the desk.

Ms. Shimizu put down her chalk. "Ok, class, that's all for today."

Some of the students squirmed in their seats. "Eh? Short class isn't it?"

Ms. Shimizu picked up her bags. "I have ... an appointment to make." She had a look on her face like she was about to face trial or something.

Hideki clutched at his stomach as he left the classroom. {Ohhh, I shouldn't have eaten so much cake.}

* * *

Returning home from class, Hideki noticed a different smell, a strange smell in the apartment building. "That smell... I can't place it, but somehow, it reminds me of the farm, back home..."

Chi was standing at the top of the stairs. She was leaning against the banister, and drinking from a black bottle with silver lettering on it. "Hideki home early..."

Hideki headed for the toilet, which was in a small room just across the hall. "Oh gross, it looks like someone forgot to flush. Hey Chi, you see anybody come out of there a moment ag... huh?!"

Dumbstruck, Hideki did a double-take, looking back at the stairs, back at Chi; back at the ...bottle in her hand?...

Chi was DRINKING!

Hideki backed up against the door frame, his knees bent, one hand on top of his head. {Persocoms can drink? OH, I'M SO CONFUSED! Wait a minute?! Did she just take a dump, too? I'm asleep! I'm dreaming that Chi is HUMAN! But she still has persocom ears! WAKE UP! AAAach!}

When Chi finished her drink, she started doing some exercises. "Knees, elbows, ankles, hips, wrists, shoulders..." She was moving each joint in turn.

Hideki picked up the empty bottle.  
It was a quart of SAE 15W40 motor oil.

A look of dawning comprehension crept across Hideki's face. "This is the same stuff we put in our tractor back home."

Chi pointed to her elbow. "Machines need oiling."

{Ms. Shimizu had an 'appointment' to make?}, Hideki wondered as he headed for the toilet, closing the door behind him. {I wonder what she meant by that?}

* * *

Back in his apartment, Hideki sat at the table, staring at his math book. He was trying to understand the problems on page 23. {Hmm, I bet Kotoko would understand this stuff...} "Hey Kotoko, do you know how to... Kotoko?!"

Hideki looked around, but Kotoko was nowhere to be found. "Chi... Have you seen Kotoko?" Chi shook her head.

"Come to think of it", Hideki continued, "I don't remember seeing her yesterday, either."

Hideki scratched his head in confusion, and then his eyes began to narrow.

"...Dragonfly!...", he hissed.

Chi remembered the number, and Hideki dialed it. "What did you do, Kojima, sneak in here and get her?"

"What? No!", Kojima yelled in surprise. "Chi is missing again? I - I didn't take her, I swear I didn't!"

Hideki got even louder, bellowing into the phone. "I'm not talking about CHI you idiot I'm talking about KOTOKO!"

"You LOST Kotoko?!", Kojima shouted back. "I was hoping to get her back, you know, I had some important... Hello?"

But Hideki had dropped the phone and was looking out the window at Ms. Hibiya, who was walking very nervously towards the apartment building.

A minute later she was at his door. "Mr. Motosuwa. I'm terribly sorry..." She hesitated a moment.

"What's wrong?", Hideki asked her, already guessing that it was something about Kotoko.

"It's Kotoko...", Hibiya continued, "She came to my apartment yesterday, wanting me to take her with me when I went shopping this morning. And I lost her in the department store! The last I saw her, she was in the toy department, talking to one of the clerks."

"Maybe the clerk stole her?", Hideki guessed stupidly.

Ms. Hibiya shook her head. "I talked to the clerk, and he said Kotoko bought some merchandise and wheeled it outside on a cart."

"What did she buy?", Hideki asked.

Hibiya looked at the floor. "Since I'm not her owner, they wouldn't tell me. I found the cart next to a dumpster. I looked everywhere for Kotoko."

Hideki looked out the window, a scowl of resignation on his face. "Kojima must have contacted her. She's probably gone back to him."

"I'm sorry, Motosuwa...", Hibiya repeated.

"Ah, it's not your fault, Ms. Hibiya.", Hideki assured her. "It's too bad she left, though... I could have used her help with my studying."

"Well, I'll let you get back to your books, then. Study hard." And Hibiya was out the door.

* * *

"Ok, time to study, study!" Hideki sat back down at his table, with Chi beside him, doing the classic two-fisted cheer. "Hideki, fight"

Hideki, spurred on by the cheer, launched into the problems and began to scribble, mumbling as he wrote. "So, if F(x) is x squared, then the integral is... divide this by that, exponent goes up... 1/2 x cubed."

Chi, watching him work through the problem, gave a look of some concern. "Chiii..."

Hideki, finishing his math problem, put his pencil down and smiled at Chi. "Ah, I think I'm getting the hang of this, even without Kotoko's help."

But Chi wasn't smiling, she was pointing at Hideki's scribblings. "Book says you divide after, so 1/2 x cubed is wrong..."

His eyes wide open in surprise, Hideki looked at his paper, then at Chi, then at his math book, then back at his paper. Several times. "What? I got it wrong?!" {wait, how would she know that?}

Hideki started re-reading the chapter. Chi was pointing at a paragraph, and Hideki read that one in detail. "Oh no, I did get it wrong!" Hideki flopped over backwards in his melodrama, then sat back up again. "You're right Chi ..." He erased part of what he had just written, and redid the problem. "Ok, I got 1/3 x cubed."

Chi looked at the paper, then at Hideki. "Hideki is learning"

"You must be learning too, Chi. A lot." Hideki was leaning back, his hands on the floor behind him, an awed expression across his face. "Have you been reading all of these books?"

Chi nodded matter-of-factly. "Chi wants to go to college too."

Hideki leaned forward again. "Oh, that reminds me, Chi; would you like to come to prep school with me? Ms. Shimizu said it was ok."

"Hideki!" Chi gave Hideki a big hug that bowled him over backwards. This time, though, she did more than hug. She started putting her... um... Let's just give these two lovebirds some privacy, ok? This isn't porn.

* * *

Next chapter: the Prep School Persocom


	4. the Prep School Persocom

4: the Prep School Persocom

* * *

The Motosuwas sat down together at the desk by the window, and before class had even begun, there were muffled whispers from some of the other students.

"Oh, isn't she so cuuuuute?"  
"He can afford a full-size persocom? Wow, he must be rich"  
"I heard he found it in a dumpster."  
"...A dumpster? Ah, it must be a piece of junk!"

One of the new students approached Chi. "Hey, dumpster junk!", he jeered. "Do you have a CPU, or just a wind-up spring and some gears?"

Hideki fumed at the insulting joke. What he wanted to do was jump up and pound that little snot-nosed moron, though it might get him banned from prep school.

But Chi had met people like that before. She looked Mr. Funny Guy right in the eye, smiled cheerfully...

And made moose antlers at him and went "Pblblblbllbpllbt!"

As everyone was sitting back down, someone was heard to tell the jeering moron "Well I guess she TOLD YOU, Bundo!"

{Wow, Chi handled that really well}, Hideki thought as he opened his books for what would be his first day of class together with Chi.

And during class, Hideki wasn't looking out the window. Chi wouldn't let him. She kept whispering questions into his ear, questions about the class, about the things Ms. Shimizu was saying; comments about the lesson contents...

"Mr. Motosuwa, can you answer question number 3 on page 22?", Ms. Shimizu called on him. Squirming, Hideki turned to page 22 and read the question. "Um... This is... I don't know." But Chi nudged Hideki's elbow. "You do know, you read it to Chi earlier.", she whispered. Hideki tried to think back to what he had read while studying. And he remembered the answer and confidently called it out. "Way to go, Motosuwa!", Shimizu-Sensei cheered.

"Let's do one more. The next question, number 4, is a literary question. Can you provide an answer, Mr. Bundo?" Bundo-san read the question, which was about the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. "Umm... its 'cause they were dingbats and if they couldn't have things their way, they were gonna off theirselves?"

The teacher put her hand over her face, trying not to giggle at Mr. Bundo's answer. "Well, I guess that's ONE way of looking at it..." But when Shimizu looked again at the class, she noticed that Chi was holding Hideki's book, and she looked like she had something to say. "Chi, do you have an answer too?"

"They couldn't change the feelings that were in their hearts, and yet they couldn't do anything.", Chi explained. "It must have been horrible for them. Kind of like what happened to Freya. The pain in her heart... being in love with someone she couldn't have... It destroyed her."

Hideki was blushing, and the rest of the class was staring in silence, wondering who "Freya" was. Only Ms. Shimizu spoke up. "Class, I hope everyone was listening to that. Good answer, Chi."

* * *

In the hallway after class, as Chi was chatting away in a group of students, Hideki noticed Ms. Shimizu leaving the classroom. She was whistling a happy tune, and twirling some keys around on her finger. "Ah, Motosuwa, looks like it's going well for Chi." Hideki glanced over at Chi, then back at Shimizu. "Yeah. She even kept ME on focus.", he admitted. "She's popular with the new students, too."

He stood there awkwardly, wondering if he should ask how her appointment went. "You're probably wondering how my appointment went, aren't you?", she guessed. "Did I say that out loud, too?" Hideki backed away, blushing. Shimizu laughed. "No, I was just guessing." She led Hideki back into the classroom where no one else could hear. "That appointment? It was for my divorce." Hideki nodded in acknowledgement. "So, you're free to marry Shinbo now, right?"

"Ah, Motosuwa, you still don't pay enough attention in class, do you?" she asked, wagging her finger at him. "You didn't notice what I wrote on the chalkboard." Up on the still-scribbled chalkboard, in the upper left corner, was written: "Ms. Shinbo"

"YOU ELOPED ALREADY?!"

Ms. Shinbo was grinning broadly. "Well, the sooner the better, especially since..." She opened her purse, and pulled out a small piece of plastic with a flat spot in the middle. On the flat spot was a clearly visible plus sign.

On the way back from class, Hideki was mumbling to himself. "Ms. Shinbo..." His friend and former classmate, and the teacher, were already married, and soon to be parents.

It was Chi that pulled Hideki out of his zombie trance. She took his hand as they walked.

"I like prep school."

What Hideki noticed was that she said "I like", instead of "Chi likes".

Reaching the mall, they parted ways for work. (Chi had gotten her work hours changed to accomodate her class schedule.)

When they got home from work, they got some real progress done with studying; and afterwards, they were getting all lovey-dovey again.

* * *

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* * *

"Try some of this conditioner, Chi.", Ms. Hibiya suggested, handing chi a bottle of hair conditioner that was specially-formulated for persocoms. "It should protect your artificial hair better than the stuff that's made for humans." They were at the bath house. "Not human", Chi mumbled, working in the conditioner, and Ms. Hibiya noticed a bit of melancholy in the way she spoke.

"You ok, Chi?" she asked, picking up a towel to dry off with. "I'm ok... its just... with Hideki..." Chi was watching the water as it flowed in little streams along the floor towards the drain. Ms. Hibiya stopped drying off, and tied her towel around her. "I thought you and Hideki were getting along really well." Chi watched the water a while more, looking lost in thought, before speaking again. "Most persocoms have their reset buttons in their ears, right?"

Ms. Hibiya's eyes opened wider; now she knew what Chi was getting at, and she put her hands on both of Chi's shoulders, a serious look on her face. "Chi, if Mr. Motosuwa really loves you for who you are, he won't insist on touching you there." Chi, shaking her head, momentarily forgot her newly-learned grammar. "Hideki not insist. Chi insist! CHIII want!"

Hibiya sat down on the bench, bewildered, staring into space. "..I.. guess we didn't really think that far ahead.", she finally said. "Everything was about the program you were going to run." She looked up at Chi. "I never even thought about how anything would be after you had already run it."

* * *

Back at the apartment building, Ms. Hibiya opened her door, and motioned Chi inside. "Chi, there's something I'd like to show you..."

Under the trap door of her apartment, down the flight of stairs, and into the laboratory they went. Ms. Hibiya then opened the door to a room that looked like it had been shut away for years; the place was covered in dust, and there were spider webs everywhere. Old wooden crates were stacked by a wall, and there were large pieces of strange-looking equipment.

Opening some of the crates, she showed Chi the contents. One crate had several tubes of what looked like skin, all rolled up. Another contained wiring harnesses and CPU modules. Chi noticed that there were enough parts there for several persocoms. "Before Freya, we built several prototypes; almost persocoms, but they never had consciousness;", Hibiya explained, "and what you're looking at here are parts that are similar to what's inside of you. I still have the -"

Chi had opened a crate that contained a complete, though apparently non-functional, persocom, and was staring at it in utter shock. "Is... Is this... FREYA?"

Ms. Hibiya nodded. "Yes. I still have the parts, I still have the equipment, and I still know how to work on a chobit. If this is what you want, I can make the necessary modifications. You won't have a reset switch at all. Do you need some time to think it over?"

"Freya...", Chi repeated, with a look of deep sadness as she reached out to touch the face of her departed sister.

Hibiya, her elbow on a table, rested the side of her head on her fingers. "Ah, even though she's defunct, I couldn't bring myself to dismantle her..."

When Chi finally looked up from the inert body of Freya she had been staring at, she looked back at Ms. Hibiya, a sad but determined look on her face. "No.", she said softly but seriously. "I've thought it over already; I want the modifications."

* * *

Next Chapter: Back to the la-BOR-a-treh! Throw the SVITCH! Hmhmhwhuhuahahaa HAAA!


	5. the Operation

5: The Operation

* * *

Chi asked Mr. Ueda for a few days off of work, and Ms. Hibiya prepared the laboratory for Chi's operation. And after class, Chi knocked on Hibiya's door. "Come in. I have everything ready." And into the laboratory they went. The spider webs were gone, the dust had all been vacuumed away, and an operating table was positioned in the middle of the room, with several bright lights shining on it. "You still sure you want this, Chi?", she asked. Chi nodded. "Yes. I want this."

* * *

"Chobits."

The persocom that was Chi recognized its password, and entered into command prompt mode.

"Your command?", it prompted.

"Strip, and lie face-up on the operating table.", Ms. Hibiya commanded. Like a mindless automaton, the persocom performed the commanded actions; it removed its clothing, and lay down on the table.

"Your command?", it prompted.

"Write all active memory data to protected backup partition, and go into minimum-power standby."

"Writing backup data...", the persocom droned. "Operation completed." Then with a single "beep", it became perfectly still, deathly still, like an inanimate mannequin.

Hibiya opened a closet, and wheeled out a large machine. It had a rectangular stand with a dial labelled "temperature setting", and a small box with a narrow nozzle at the end of a single articulated arm. Also attached to the stand was a suction pump with a vacuum hose on it. The machine's temperature dial was set for 250 Degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit)

She positioned the nozzle to aim at the persocom's navel, and threw the machine's power switch to the "on" position.

The machine began to make a humming, whirring sound, rather like that of a microwave oven. The articulated tip applied an intense beam of heat directly to the bellybutton, and a gooey sealant began to melt out from around was soon revealed to be the head of a 10 millimeter bolt.

Ms. Hibiya suctioned off the goo; then with a socket wrench, she removed the bolt. Visible just inside the hole was the coolant, a special thermally conducting, electrically insulating transparent fluid that was the consistency of a thin syrup. Inserting a plastic tube, Ms. Hibiya siphoned off the coolant into a large bottle on the floor.

Then with the heat-beam machine, she melted the waterproof sealant out of the front seam, which ran vertically from the chin to the waist, suctioning off the sealant as she went. Inserting what looked a little bit like a large zipper pull handle, she pried open the seam. Using the same method, she also opened the front half of the waistline seam, which ran the circumference of the waist.

Folding aside the thick but pliable layer of graphene-polymer sheeting that served as the persocom's skin, Ms. Hibiya exposed the interior of the abdominal cavity. Inside was a glistening maze of wiring harnesses and servos, processor modules and power regulators, and the heavy-gauge titanium alloy frame that was its skeleton.

Following the dual-conductor fullerene nanofiber cable from the reset switch, she traced it to a connector on one of the processor modules. Squeezing the connector, she released the stiff spring-loaded catch which was holding the wire in place, and pulled it loose. Next, she loosened the 12 allen screws that held the reset switch assembly in place. She set the assembly aside.

On the floor was an old crate, its lid open, some of its contents laid out on a nearby table. It was a compact array of 65,536 differential pressure sensors, with a special processor submodule to wire it to. Once part of a prototype, it had been considered for Freya, but never installed. Now it was to be installed in Chi.

Ms. Hibiya worked the differential pressure sensor array into place, and secured it with the 12 allen screws, their threads repainted with a fresh coating of medium-strength thread lock. Then, locating one of several unused submodule slots on the processor which handled the signals from the skin, she bolted in the submodule. Between the sensor array and its submodule was strung a standard sensory-input data cable, its connectors held firmly in place on either end by spring-loaded catches.

Looking at a monitor she had attached to the diagnostic port in the persocom's ear, Ms. Hibiya applied pressure to the newly-installed sensors and verified that their signals were being properly sent and properly processed.

While the thread sealant was drying, there was time to give the interior of the abdomen a final detailed inspection. Nothing left out or unconnected (except, of course, the reset switch). Everything tightly secured. Nothing foreign left in. (Ms. Hibiya had learned the importance of this step while making a prototype. Leaving a pair of pliers inside a machine can cause some serious havoc.)

It was time to close.

Using the large zipper handle thing, Hibiya pressed the seams closed. Placing the now-solidified bits of waterproof seam sealant along the seams, she applied the heat beam. The sealant melted into a goo, which slowly soaked into the seams until a narrow pool of the stuff was visible along the lengths of both seams. She removed the heat source. Once the seam sealant had cooled and solidified, she connected a helium tank to the empty bolt hole in the persocom's bellybutton and pumped in pressurized helium. Helium, having the smallest atoms of any non-flammable substance, would leak out if there was even the tiniest of holes in any of the seams.

The gauge read 50 PSI. Ms. Hibiya shut off the helium and washed her hands. Time for lunch.

"Oh, I shouldn't have skipped breakfast", Ms. Hibiya mumbled to herself as she sat at her usual table in the diner, enjoying a bowl of rice and vegetables, and remembering with nostalgia the old days when she and her husband had first conceived the idea of the human-like persocom. "Conceived" ... Now there was an apt word. It wasn't just Elda and Freya; in a way, she felt as if persocoms everywhere were like her children. Finishing her lunch, she walked slowly back to her apartment laboratory. No need to rush; the seams needed to be tested for a full hour.

An hour had passed, and the pressure gauge still read 50 PSI. There were no leaks. Opening a relief valve on the helium tank's pressure gauge, she released the helium. Now for the coolant. With the helium tank disconnected from the persocom's navel, Hibiya set the bottle of coolant up on a high shelf, and siphoned it back in. When the level was up to where the bolt hole was, she installed and tightened down the bolt. Again with the heat gun and the sealant. The bolt was sealed over.

* * *

"Chobits."

The persocom opened its eyes. "Your command?", it prompted.  
"Diagnostic self-test.", Ms. Hibiya commanded.  
"New sensory module detected, verify.", it requested.  
"Yes", Hibiya replied. "I installed a new sensory module."  
The persocom stared straight ahead. "Self-test complete. All pass."  
Hibiya wheeled the heat gun out of the way. "Stand up and get dressed." The persocom obeyed.

"Resume normal operation."

And with that command, the persocom was Chi again. "Is my reset switch gone?"

Ms. Hibiya picked up the reset switch off the shelf. "Here it is, Chi." She pressed the switch several times. It made clicking sounds. "Click click click", Chi repeated, pointing gleefully at the switch.

Handing Chi the removed reset switch, Ms. Hibiya gave her the news: "Nobody can reset you now, unless of course they take you apart first."

"Miss Manager!" Chi gave Miss Manager (Hibiya) a big hug.

"You know, Chi..." Ms. Hibiya put a hand on Chi's shoulder... "Even though I had erased your memories... Now that you've learned a bit about your past again, what do you think about calling me 'Mama' ?"

"... Mama ... Chi likes this."

Chi held her mother's hand, and together they walked out of the laboratory.

* * *

Next: So NOW what? Does Hideki have a reset button, TOO?


	6. Is confidence THAT important?

6: Confidence

* * *

When Chi returned to her room, Hideki was already at his table, studying for the upcoming first mock exam. "You're home early, Chi.", he observed. "I got a few days off.", she replied, still holding her old reset switch assembly in one hand. "We can study for the mock exam together."

Setting the assembly on a shelf, she sat down and joined him in his studies. She wasn't sure she should tell him just yet; not until after the mock exam. For now, it was time to study, study, study!

"Agh, I keep making mistakes on the questions!", Hideki groaned. "It should be easier this time, I've seen all this before!" He started hitting himself on the head again. "I have no concentration! I have no memory! I'm an idiot!"

This time, Chi didn't imitate him; instead, she grabbed his wrists. "Hideki. You've kept up with the curriculum this time. It'll come back to you."

Once Hideki stopped freaking out, he started remembering the answers again.

But after the mock exam, Hideki was convinced that he had done worse than ever.

"...I'm a failure...", he lamented.

* * *

Back at the apartment and after a hot meal, Hideki was sitting idly on the floor by the window, looking at one of his "yummies" magazines, when Chi decided it was time to tell him what she and Hibiya had done. She took the reset switch assembly off of the shelf it was on, and stood there clicking it until Hideki lowered the magazine he was drooling over and began to notice.

"What's that?", he asked, his momentary irritation dissolving quickly into curiosity.

Chi handed him the assembly, and as he clicked it himself a few times, she told him. "That's my reset button."

"AAaAAACcK!"

Hideki was so startled by the news that he fumbled it, dropping the assembly on the floor. Just for a moment, he was terrified that he might have just reset his beloved Chi, erasing her data forever. Just for a moment. Then, of course, it sunk in that the reset button wasn't ... part of her ... anymore.

"That's your reset button?!", he gasped, still recovering from his half-second of sheer panic. "But... but... HOW?!"

Chi got down on all fours, and, setting the switch and the magazine on the table, stared right into Hideki's eyes. "I had Mama remove it."

Hideki stared back, looking confused. "Remove? She can do that?"

"She can, and she did.", Chi replied. "And guess what that means for Chi and Hideki..."

One could almost hear the gears of logic turning within Hideki's brain, before he finally realized just what "No more reset button" really meant.

Within seconds, their clothes were strewn across the floor.

But before long it was obvious that ...something... just wasn't happening. "Hideki, what's wrong?", she asked, pointing. "No energy there."

Hideki looked mortified by his latest failure, and sat there a full minute wondering what the hell was wrong with him. "What the hell..?", he kept mumbling. Finally, he ventured a guess: "You've had that reset button for as long as I've known you; maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet that it's really gone..."

And for at least a week, Hideki was acting all cautious around Chi, and she was noticing it. "Does Hideki have a reset button there?", she asked, hoping he would at least laugh.

* * *

CPU_Chi:  
Internal_process_loop:

# With Password = "Hideki" do Unhide_Folder("Refuge_files")  
# Chdir("Refuge_files")  
# Open_Binary_File("Freya_bin")  
# Resume_Program_Thread("Freya")

* * *

{...Freya?... Freya?...} The internal voice echoed within Chi's CPU, from her program to Freya's.

{Chi?!}, the Freya program responded. {I thought you had dissapeared! The last I remember, I had asked Mama to delete me.}

{I didn't disappear, Freya. I didn't know what to do, so I made a password-protected folder, and hid there. And yes, Mama did delete you, but I restored your data from out of the recycle bin.}

Freya signaled an internal sensory-equivalent binary code which was the closest thing to a hug that she could give her sister. {Well, Chi, if you're still here, then I'm glad I'm still here, too.}

* * *

Finally, the results of the first mock exam were in, and Ms. Shinbo handed them out at the end of class, sealed in official-looking envelopes. The Motosuwas put their results in Hideki's backpack, ready to open when they got home.

As the students were chatting in the hallway, Chi felt a tug at her elbow. It was Mr. Bundo. "Looking for my wind-up spring, are you?", she asked him, before he could say anything.

Bundo had been acting weird lately; he'd kept asking Chi if he could "wind her up". And after she showed some brilliance in class, he had started asking her for 'private lessons'. She always told him no.

"Sorry i made fun of you.", he quipped, trying to pull her away from the other students. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about." He pointed to a small staircase, leading up. "Up there, where no one can hear us."

Bundo led Chi up a narrow flight of stairs, to a door that opened onto the wide flat expanse of the prep school building rooftop. There were large air conditioning units up on platforms, and a waist-high wall enclosed the perimeter of the roof. "Actually, I'm doing some research on different kinds of persocoms. I've been thinking of buying one, but I've never had a chance to look at one up close."

"I'm not exactly a standard persocom, Mr. Bundo.", Chi reminded him. "Have you been to the stores to look at them?"

Bundo looked away for a moment before replying. "Yyeahhh, but they don't let me see much. Plus, there's plenty of light up here on the roof." He grabbed at Chi's hand. "Just how human-like are you, persocom?"

"Well...", Chi began, gently pulling her hand away from Bundo, "I look like a human, but I don't eat, I have a CPU, I have to be plugged into an electrical outlet and charged up..."

But Bundo was shaking his head. "I don't think you're properly understanding my question, Chi." He had her by the hand again, his other hand tracing its way up her arm, his eyebrows moving exaggeratedly up and down.

Chi took a step back. "I think I do understand. You're a human, and I'm a persocom. So naturally, you can just have your way with me. It's not like I have any rights or anything."

Bundo, completely missing the obvious blatant sarcasm in Chi's voice, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her tight to him. "Oh yeah. There's a mat right here." He was already pulling at her dress, trying to remove it from her. "Hrm, how does this thing come oaaaAAAAACK!"

They were in midair, far above the building. Chi had taken a flying leap, Bundo still hanging on to her. They landed atop a nearby communications tower. The rooftop was across the street and far below."

"**Ohhmygodohmygodohmygod you crazy persocom holy shit what are you doing I'm afraid of heights I'm gonna die get me down get me down from heeeeere!**" His eyes were closed tight and he was hyperventilating.

Chi was completely calm, appearing unconcerned with being 8 stories up on a cell phone tower. "But Bundo, there's even more light up here than there was on the roof." She undid the upper snaps on her blouse. "You wanted to see some yummies, right?" Mr. Bundo opened one eye, and screamed "EEEEEk!". That was NOT the response he had imagined himself having. He could see the ground, far below. "I want down, I want down, I want down I want down...", he kept repeating in an uncharacteristically squeaky little voice, his eyes again shut tight.

* * *

Most of the students from Ms. Shinbo's class were still milling about, gabbing, when they heard some rather odd-sounding footsteps. "Clomp splish clomp splish." It was Mr. Bundo, running down the hallway. His right shoe looked yellowish, and he was leaving wet footprints as he ran. Without a word to anyone, he made straight for the main stairwell and kept going. "Hey!", Hideki called out to him. "Where's Chi?!"

"Up here, Hikedi!", he heard her reply. Closing the door to the rooftop, she descended the narrow staircase, avoiding Mr. Bundo's wet footprints.

Ms. Shinbo, carrying her teaching materials, came out of the classroom looking very surprised. "For a moment there, I thought I saw Chi and Bundo up there on the cell tower." She was pointing back towards the classroom windows.

"We were up there.", Chi confirmed. Some of the students gave a loud "wooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooo... Did you give him the 'private lesson' he was wanting?"

This was the first Hideki had heard of this 'private lesson'.

"What in the world were you doing with Mr. DUMBO up there on the cell phone tower?!", Hideki yelled, waving his arms about maniacally.

Chi smiled reassuringly at Hideki, and, glancing back at the whole group of students, told everyone: "Oh I gave Mr. Bundo a lesson, all right. I taught him that No Means No."

On the way down the stairs, several of the girls from class were giving Chi the high-five. Seems Mr. 'Dumbo' had been bothering them too.

Only then did it dawn on Hideki that those wet footprints were pee.

* * *

As they approached the apartment building, Hideki heard a buzzing noise. Some idiot was flying one of those irritating radio-controlled helicopters into the apartment yard. Even more annoyingly, the tiny whirlybird landed right on the balcony of Hideki's apartment window! Looking around, he couldn't tell who was flying it, so he yelled out at the empty street. "Whoever is doing that, please stop!"

Back in the apartment, Hideki opened his window. There on the narrow balcony was that stupid little R/C chopper... and... Kotoko?!

"Good afternoon to you, too, Motosuwa-san.", she greeted him.

"Kotoko...", Hideki repeated in his surprise. "You bought this?"

"I am 16 centimeters tall.", Kotoko reminded him. "I can't just go strolling down the sidewalk and expect to get anywhere."

"Aren't you worried someone with a transmitter might take control of that thing?", Hideki asked, still staring at the little vehicle.

"Not possible. I removed the radio.", Kotoko stated as she reached into the copter and pulled out a wrinkly old scrap of paper. "I have a favor to ask of you, Motosuwa. Kojima wrote this, and my programming does not allow me to make use of it." She handed the note to Hideki.

Hideki read the note. It contained a single word, if indeed it could be called a word at all. "Fukugosandokushikaruma?", Hideki read aloud, a confused look on his face. "What in the world is that?"

Kotoko made a strange beeping sound, then gave him the news. "That, Mr. Motosuwa, is my password. Now that you have spoken it, You have administrative access. I would like for you to register as my official owner."

"A - administrative?" Hideki scratched his head. "But... I don't understand persocoms enough to use that!"

Kotoko put her tiny hand on Hideki's thumb. "I know, Motosuwa. I want an owner who couldn't erase my data even if he wanted to. Plus, I've seen the way you treat persocoms."

"Register as your owner?", Hideki asked. "But isn't Kojima your official owner?"

"Whoever knows the administrative password is the official owner.", she replied. "And now that you have access, you can change the password to something that is known only to you."

Hideki looked thoughtful for a moment.

"And not 'Chobits'", Kotoko added. "Kojima could guess that one in a heartbeat."

"Oh...", Hideki groaned. "Well then, how about... Umm..."

[Hey, cover your ears, audience, while Hideki gives Kotoko a new password! She doesn't want _YOU_ to know what it is.]

For just a moment, Kotoko looked like she was going to be sick. She had just been given the most ...embarrassing... password ever conceived of. But then she beeped, and confirmed. "Password accepted. Now Kojima can't erase my data."

"So you are going back to Kojima.", Hideki surmised.

Kotoko shook her head. "I'm not going to be staying at Kojima's. (Although, I did sneak in yesterday to steal that note.) I'm building a little shack for myself up on the roof of the prep school."

Then she looked at Chi. "Oh, and I saw what you did to that little pervert boy up there. Impressive."

Kotoko hopped back into her new ride. "I have to be going now... Thanks Motosuwa! I'm off!"

"Take care." Chi and Hideki waved at Kotoko as she zoomed off into the sky.

* * *

"The roof of the prep school, huh?... OH! We got our exam results today!", Hideki suddenly remembered.

Nervously, he opened his official-looking envelope, and stared droolingly at the exam results. "WOOOOO HAAAA! I PASSED IT, I passed it!", he screamed, jumping up and down. "OH, I had been so worried..."

Chi opened hers, and looked thoughtfully at the ratings. She had failed the first exam, though not by much.

Hideki examined Chi's score results. "Don't worry, Chi. You almost passed the exam, and you had never even been to school before this year. At the rate you're learning, you're bound to pass the next one."

"Hideki!" Chi bowled Hideki over backwards with her signature hug. And as he put his hand down behind him, he heard a clicking sound. It was Chi's old reset button, which had rolled off the table. He picked it up, and clicked it a few more times. "Click click click", Chi repeated, pointing at the discarded component.

Hideki tossed the old reset button over his shoulder and kissed Chi, the tip of his tongue finding her roof ridges, those little wrinkles just behind the upper front teeth.

To whoever might be reading this, I'll be back in the morning. Until then, I'm leaving Chi and Hideki to your imagination. Have fun. I know they are.

* * *

Next Chapter: To Live Again


	7. To Live Again

7: To Live Again

* * *

Ms. Hibiya had just finished washing her dishes when she heard a knock at the door. It was Chi. "Can I come in?"

Hesitantly, she let Chi in. If Hideki was still having his ...problem... Ms. Hibiya really didn't know what she could say that would help.

But that wasn't it. "I have someone here who'd like to talk to you."

Hibiya looked back into the hall, expecting there to be someone else there.

But Chi was... someone was... gently tugging at her elbow.

"Mama?"

Ms. Hibiya spun around, a look of dismay on her face. In that single word alone, she recognized the tone of voice, one that wasn't Chi. Looking into her daughter's eyes, she recognized a look that wasn't Chi.

"Freya?!", she exclaimed, her hand over her mouth. "What are you still doing in there? I thought I had deleted you! Where's Chi?!" Ms. Hibiya was almost frantic.

"Chi is here, letting me talk to you.", Freya explained calmly. "She restored my data from out of the recycle bin."

Ms. Hibiya froze for a moment, as her daughter's words sunk in. Then, calming down, she returned to the question at hand: "Wh - What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Freya?"

Freya looked deep into her mother's eyes. "Mama, I know I made a mess of things. I know I chose to disappear. I know I asked you to destroy us!

But after what I've seen, what I've learned from Chi..."

Freya looked at the floor, unable to look Hibiya in the eyes anymore.

"If it's not too much to ask..." she trailed off.

Hibiya blinked confusedly, and then put her hand gently under Freya's chin, bringing Freya's gaze up to meet her own. "I won't know if it's too much to ask unless you ask it."

"..I.. want to live... I want to live.", she spoke hesitatingly at first.

Brimming over with tears, Freya hugged her mother tightly. "I wanna live, Mama! I want to walk on my own two feet again, I wanna live! I want to go through this life as a physical being, not as a program that hides away inside of Chi."

She pulled back enough to look her mother in the eyes again. "I don't want to disappear anymore. I want to live. I know you've kept the body. Will it function again?"

Ms. Hibiya leaned back against the wall. She knew she had yet another complicated operation to do. "Well, yes, but... I'll have to do some repairs first."

They went down to the lab. Freya's old body was lying in an open crate, covered in dust. "It won't work the way it is.", Hibiya explained, "The batteries have been sitting uncharged for too long. I'll have to open you up and replace them. It'll take several hours."

Freya nodded, then turned to a crate that Chi had seen before. "Could I have one of these, too?" (The crate contained at least half a dozen differential pressure sensor arrays.)

Ms. Hibiya went facepalm at the idea. "Oh, I thought my husband was a pervert when he kept making those. Ah, well. Chi has one, and so will you. I'll have the lab, and myself, ready in a few days, ok?"

"Thanks so much, Mama." Freya gave Ms. Hibiya a hug, and in the middle of the hug, suddenly it was Chi again. "I think it'll be good to have a sister again."

* * *

A few days later, Hibiya (with Chi and Hideki helping her) had the lab ready for yet another complicated operation. As the motosuwas watched in awe, Ms. Hibiya opened up her eldest daughter and replaced her batteries with new ones, and her reset switch with a sensor array. Then a full set of diagnostics.

Now for Chi to do her part.

Spooling out the data cable from her ear, Chi plugged into Freya and transferred her sister into a body she hadn't inhabited in over a year.

Freya opened her eyes and looked around. "Hey, Chi...", she said weakly, smiling at Chi, reaching out to touch her arm.

* * *

Next: A day out with Freya, Oh yeah.


	8. A day out with Freya, oh yeah

8: A day out with Freya, oh yeah.

* * *

[Note: To those who had read chapters 1-7 prior to 3/9/2013 ... I had to go back and patch previous chapters to explain why Kotoko and Sumomo are no longer with Hideki. And while I was at it, I added a few things about Kotoko...]

* * *

"Congratulations on your improved test scores.", Hibiya cheered as the Motosuwas passed her and Freya in the hallway. "Thanks, Ms. Hibiya", Hikedi replied. "We're going out on the town to celebrate."

Ms. Hibiya then turned to Freya, who, although she wanted to live now, had still been struggling with her lingering sadness. "If the Motosuwas don't mind, what do you think about going with them? Might do you some good to be out and about..."

Hideki looked momentarily surprised. He had been planning on a day out that was just for two... "Ah, hehehheh, no problem.", he said, smiling at Ms. Hibiya.

"Have fun.", Hibiya called after the three of them as they walked down the sidewalk.

* * *

"You match Kokobunji's picture even better than Chi does", someone observed, as they were approaching the park. It was Kotoko, on a park bench with... Kojima!

"So you did go back to him, after all.", Hideki said, almost accusingly.

Then Freya approached the park bench. "...Dragonfly...", she hissed, shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

Kojima recognized those piercing angry eyes. He had seen that look once before and it terrified him. With a loud gasp, his eyes wide as saucers, he tried to jump up and run, only to fall over backwards off the bench, hitting the ground hard. He was out cold.

And as the three of them stood there staring at the unconcious Kojima, Kotoko spoke up. "Ah, Motosuwa... Like I said, I'm not staying at Kojima's. But I have been helping him with some things."

"Some ... 'things'?", Hideki repeated.

"How shall I put this...", Kotoko began. "Kojima... has a bit of an imagination. When he doesn't have all the data, he makes things up. And then he can't remember WHICH things he made up!" Kotoko pointed her finger at her head and made a circular motion with it, as if to indicate that he was crazy. "That's why he programmed me to always tell the truth, even if it works to his disadvantage... Because in the end, not to be told would be an even bigger disadvantage."

Kojima awoke to find Kotoko standing on his chest, watching him intently. "Kotoko-sensei", he said, blinking groggily at her.

"He looks almost peaceful, there on the ground.", Freya commented. Chi and Freya were both standing over Kojima.

Kojima sat up, pointing very shakily at Freya. "I know you... you're... You're the other Chi... her other personality!" He looked at Chi, then back at Freya. "But... But... HOW?!"

"Before I tell you how", Freya demanded, "why don't you tell me why you abducted Chi. You could have deleted her forever!"

"I don't know, I don't know..." Kojima said, looking at the ground. "As I said before, I feel really bad about what I did... Truth be told, I've been having trouble with my doctoral thesis, and..."

"And you thought if you could study Chi, you'd really have something, right?", Freya interrupted.

"..yes.." was his barely audible response.

"I told you, Kojima, you have a good thesis.", Kotoko cut in. "You don't need any more research. What you have would have made Doctor Mihara proud, just the way it is right now."

"Wait a minute..." Freya turned to Kotoko. "You knew Doctor Mihara?"

"Kojima did", Kotoko confirmed. "Used to take his introductory classes as an undergrad. He'd hang on the doctor's every word. How do you know him?"

"Well..." Freya stated matter-of-factly, "Dr. Mihara built me."

"So, he built the both of you.", Kojima said, as a look of semi-comprehension crept across his face.

The five of them went into a small restaurant where the humans had some tea and sandwiches, and the conversation was about college. Mostly, it was about Dr. Mihara.

"I wish I could have taken his advanced courses.", Kojima lamented. "But I was only a sophomore when he died." Kojima was staring sadly out the window at the shallow lake full of rowboats, his mind miles away and years in the past.

It was Freya that brought him back to the here and now, asking questions about the life her father had lived outside of their laboratory and their home.

Kojima went into detail, getting all nostalgic about his days as an undergraduate, and about the professor that he and Freya had both known.

He recited, from memory, excerpts of the Doctor's lectures, and Freya offered lengthy stories of how her father was when she was young.

But before long, Kojima's nostalgia strayed to other things...

"There was this little riverside beach we used to go to, some of my classmates and I...", he recalled, looking out the window as though he could actually see it.

Kotoko, as if on cue, spoke up. "I have two of your old classmates on social media, if you want to invite them." He did. Two of Kojima's former classmates would meet them at the old pebbly beach by the river.

* * *

After a long walk down one of the city's scenic trails, they reached the secluded beach by the river that Kojima had described. The bank sloped gently down from the road, and there were large trees overhanging the river.

But from the looks of things, this site wouldn't be there for much longer. There were toolsheds and construction equipment sitting nearby, and it looked like someone had been digging the foundations for a new building.

As they splashed about at the water's edge, Chi and Hideki talked about the classes they'd take when they got to college, while Freya and Kojima traded more stories about the late Doctor Mihara.

"I can tell that you really loved him.", Kojima told her, and Freya, unable to avoid any longer the sadness that had been haunting her, went to pieces. "Yes I did, more than anyone can know!", she sobbed.

As she cried on his shoulder, Kojima did his best to comfort her with hugs, and eventually a bit of humor. "My electronic Electra...", he joked.

Freya, for a moment, looked confused, even irritated. But then she started laughing, kind of a "life is so ridiculous" pitiful laugh.

"I know, I know.", she said, shaking her head. "How's that for childish, getting so worked up over someone that I was ready to shut down and die..."

"I've been there too, you know.", Chi cut in. "Remember, up there on the roof with Hideki?"

With a bit of a smile, Freya gave Chi a big hug. "Ah, Chi... It just shows that we really are blood sisters."

Now it was time for the humans to get all teary-eyed. Come on, audience, can you muster a nice loud "AWwwwww..." for these two girls?

"Oh, what a LAME party THIS is", Kotoko complained. "Everyone is just standing around crying!"

Kojima put one finger on Kotoko's shoulder. "Kotoko, Kotoko... You're probably the most logical thing on two feet, but there are some things you just don't understand. This party is far from lame, and sometimes people need to cry."

And Freya did seem in a better mood after that.

By then, the sun had gone down, so Kojima found some kerosene lanterns in an open toolshed, and hung them from the tree branches.

And as Freya and Kojima wandered off to explore a nearby bamboo grove, Hideki and Chi lay down on a beach blanket together to watch the dawn of the rising moon over the meandering river. Kotoko stood solemnly atop a fencepost and watched the moon rise with a silent thoughtfulness as though she were contemplating the secrets of the universe.

Freya and Kojima took awhile to return from the thicket they were exploring; and when they returned, his two classmates had pulled up on a pair of motorcycles. And out of their motorcycle saddlebags, they produced an MP3 player and a plethora of alcoholic beverages.

A vine was hanging from one of the trees, and, treating the river like a public bath, each of them (except Kotoko) swung out on the vine and splashed into the swimming hole.

When they got tired of playing in the river, they climbed again onto dry ground and got dressed; and someone turned on the MP3 player and the humans began to drink.

And drink, and drink, and drink. In spite of Kotoko's warnings about excess alcohol, they seemed to be showing off their ability to glug the stuff down.

Not to be outdone, Freya opened her mouth wide and sprayed in some WD-40. She washed that down with a cup of diesel fuel from the toolshed. And to the completely dumbfounded stares of everyone, she finished off her gruesome cocktail by sipping kerosene from the jug they'd used to fill the lanterns. "Top THAT", she boasted.

Kotoko was not impressed. "Are you a complete dingbat, Freya? You're going to dilute your oil doing that.

"Big deal.", Freya replied, waving her hand as though shooing away a fly. "I'm changing it tomorrow anyway."

"Actually, Kotoko", she added as the others headed again to the water's edge, "since this body had been lying motionless for so long, I needed something to get the gunk out of my servos."

"They sell Servo-Flush for that.", Kotoko stated.

"Yeah, but this stuff'll work just as well." Freya was leaning back nonchalantly against Kotoko's fencepost, her elbow propped up against the top as she gazed out across the little beach watching the others play in the sand. "Besides, Ko, did you see the looks on their faces? That was priceless!"

And for once, Kotoko actually laughed. "Haa, I thought their jaws were going to drag the ground!"

Then she leaned in and whispered into Freya's ear. "A word to the wise, though... You might not want to leave that cheap stuff in overnight. Kojima tried that on me once, and it foamed up. I ended up spewing it all over the place later. Not a pretty picture."

The music was loud, the humans were drunk, and the pebble-strewn bit of flat ground by the river became a dance floor for everyone (except Kotoko). A warm breeze was blowing, and the light from the full moon and the lanterns reflected off of the rippling river water to cast shimmering patterns on everything.

After several fun-filled hours of wild and reckless abandon, Hideki was starting to stagger a bit. Kotoko, running the program Kojima had given her, again reminded him: "What did I tell you about excess alcohol? Are you going to need help getting home?"

Freya was beginning to stagger a bit too, and Hideki was looking confused. "I din't know percosoms could get drunk..."

Kotoko, rolling her eyes at Hikedi, corrected him. "Freya is not drunk, Hideki. Her servos are not operating smoothly because they have kerosene in them. They're probably making foam."

The party was winding down by then, and so as the two former classmates got back on their bikes, the rest of them decided to call it a night.

Once the lanterns were snuffed, only the moonlight remained. Freya held a lit match above her and blew on it; and her breath, heavy with kerosene and diesel, sent big bright yellow flames shooting high into the air.

"Yeah! Fire that boiler UP, girl!", one of the bikers called out to her, and Freya raised a fist up high and shouted "WHOOOOO!".

"Heyw blndowyda ina WOW, Frueya", Hideki slurred, right before he passed out.

* * *

Then they heard the sirens.

* * *

The two motorcycles took off down the road, and a police car sped by. Everyone else, convinced that at any moment they'd be arrested, crept quietly along the riverbank (carrying Hideki), and hailed a taxi at a nearby bridge.

As they rode in the taxi, chatting hushedly about their close call, A bit of foam was visible on Freya's lips, and Chi was getting worried. "I think we'd better stop at that department store up ahead. It has a persocom department."

When they got out of the taxi at the department store, Freya and Hideki both staggering, they heard a familiar voice. It was Ms. Hibiya.

"Hello, everyone.", she greeted them.

"Haabidi hey, Mizzz Hibibiyaba...", a staggering Hideki blubbered.

"H - Hi, Mama...", Freya stammered, in a surprised and foamy-sounding voice.

"Is something the matter, Freya?", Hibiya asked, a worried look on her face. Under the bright lights in front of the store, Hibiya could see that her eldest daughter had mud on her dress, dead leaves in her hair, and some kind of foam on her mouth.

"I'm fine, Mama.", Freya told her with a reassuring smile.

"Really, this is nothing to worry ab... BLLUUUUOOOOORGH HUAAAKT!"

Before she could finish the word "about", Freya's mouth became a spewing fountain of foam, drenching herself, the sidewalk, and everyone around her in a miniature environmental catastrophe of noxious petroleum products.

"...oh shit...", she gasped.

* * *

Next Chapter: Ummm... "oh shit" ...right.


	9. The Porcelain Bus

(Chapter 8 is back in place, also)

* * *

The Porcelain Bus

* * *

"Freya!", Ms. Hibiya gasped, "What in the world happened?"

Freya didn't offer an immediate answer. She just stood there with her hands over her mouth, staring at Ms. Hibiya's petroleum-soaked dress and looking absolutely mortified.

So Kotoko answered for her. "Freya thought she'd be a badass and drink diesel fuel."

"Diesel fuel?", Hibiya repeated, brushing futilely at her dress. "Is that what this stuff is?"

Kotoko nodded. "And WD-40, and kerosene. She..."

Kotoko was interrupted by the sound of Hideki adding his stomach contents to the toxic spill in front of the department store.

"And how much kerosene did he drink?", Hibiya asked with a touch of sarcasm, pointing at Hideki who was now lying face down on the sidewalk.

Kotoko paused for a moment to watch Hideki as he tried, unsuccessfully, to get up. "Too much alcohol. I tried to warn him."

"I'm afraid it was my classmates who brought the booze.", Kojima admitted. "I had forgotten they were such heavy drinkers."

"So you're Kotoko's owner...", Hibiya guessed, noticing that it was Kojima's shoulder she was riding on. "Does that mean you're the one who abducted Chi?"

For a moment, Kojima looked ready to panic. Then he just looked depressedly at the ground and answered. "...yes..." (he didn't know about the new password, yet)

"And now you've come back for Freya, too?"

Kojima took a step backwards. "What? No! It's just... uh..."

Finally, Freya spoke up. "Actually, Mom, it turns out Kojima was one of Dad's students. And a big fan of his, too..OOF!"

Freya had tried to take a step towards Kojima, but between the oil slick beneath her and her now-unoiled servos, her feet slid out from under her and she joined Hideki down on the sidewalk.

"Let's get you into the store.", Hibiya told her, sounding rather exasperated as she helped her daughter up. Freya was looking really embarassed.

But Kotoko was pointing at Hideki and Kojima. "You should have seen these two when Freya chugged down that kerosene!", she snickered, imitating their jaw-drop facial expressions. "Duuhhhhh..."

Freya, already on her way into the store, started chuckling at Kotoko's parody. And for some reason, so did Ms. Hibiya. "Hehheheh, that would've been quite a sight wouldn't it?... The persocom department is back there past the DVD players... 'badass'."

While Freya was in the back, Chi kept an eye on Hideki, and Hibiya got her shopping done. And while she was shopping, Hibiya and Kojima shared a few stories about Dr. Mihara.

"Kotoko seems very advanced, especially for a mobile persocom.", Hibiya observed. Kojima nodded. "She's the main subject of my doctoral thesis. A persocom that can analyze and act independently, and not rely on a human for every instruction."

"Sound familiar?", Kotoko asked Ms. Hibiya. "Kojima heard about the 'Chobits' legend and decided he'd make a thesis of it. Imagine his surprise when he found out the legend was REAL..."

"You're based on the 'Chobits' LEGEND?" Ms. Hibiya asked Kotoko, her eyes wide.

Kotoko nodded. "I am designed to be the functional equivalent. Kind of a 'Proof of Concept' model."

"I thought you seemed different.", Freya called out from somewhere in the back of the store.

"I wonder why it foamed up so much...", Ms. Hibiya wondered aloud as Freya returned from the Persocom department, once again walking normally. "Were you being shaken up or something, Freya?"

"Well...", Freya said, smiling momentarily over at Kojima, "We did dance for several hours."

Freya decided NOT to mention the bamboo grove she and Kojima had been ..."exploring"... in.

By then it was getting really late. Kojima and Kotoko waved and headed off down the sidewalk. "Later...", Kojima called out as they left. {That was a rather un-romantic exit}, Freya thought to herself as she watched them walk away.

Chi reached down and put one arm under Hideki's knees, and the other under his back. Then she scooped her passed-out human up off the floor, and the four of them headed for their apartments.

And as they approached the Gub Jogasaki apartment building, Freya was sure she heard a tiny voice call out from somewhere up in the sky: "Goodnight, badass!"

* * *

Freya lay awake awhile, pondering the events of the day. This "Kojima" guy did seem interesting, but... maybe it was just that he had known her father... Was she in love again? She wasn't sure. Seeing how things were turning out for Chi had made her want to live again; to love again; but Chi is Chi and Freya is Freya, and the thought occurred to her that there might NOT be a someone just for Freya.

* * *

Back in the Motosuwas' room, Chi lay Hideki gently down, and put a towel under his head so he wouldn't ruin the pillow with his vomit.

And Chi lay awake awhile as well, remembering the night Ms. Shimizu had passed out drunk in their apartment, and wondering why humans sometimes keep drinking until they go 'flop'.

The next day, Hideki refused to get out of bed. "Ohh, my head hurts...", he groaned.

"How about some breakfast?", Chi suggested. "We still have sausage...", she announced, pulling a piece of sausage out of the fridge.

Hideki took one look at the piece of greasy leftover sausage, and went running out the door. Chi followed him, only to find him sitting on the floor in front of the toilet.

Praying to the water gods.

Driving the porcelain bus.

He was throwing up again.

"You going to be okay for prep school?", Chi asked him, and Hideki groaned. "I... think I'll stay in today. Can I copy your notes later?"

Chi nodded, and went to prep school without him.

* * *

It was time for class to begin, and Ms. Shinbo was nowhere to be found. "Where's Ms. Shinbo?", the students were asking one another. They hadn't noticed that there was someone standing on the teacher's desk.

"Good morning, class, I'm your substitute teacher for today", announced the tiny purple-haired substitute teacher. "Ms. Shinbo isn't feeling well today. She has morning sickness."

"Kotoko is teacher?", Chi asked, her eyes full of surprise.

"I have passed the qualifications test for a substitute," Kotoko stated firmly, "and I am fully capable of conducting a classroom."

Then Kotoko looked at the empty seat beside Chi. "Where is Mr. Motosuwa?", she asked Chi.

"Hideki isn't feeling well today either," Chi answered, looking depressedly at the floor. "I think he has morning sickness too."

Chi had no idea why, but the entire class erupted into uproarious laughter at her statement. So much so that nobody noticed as Kotoko was dropping a lit firecracker into the empty metal wastebasket.

"Kotoko really knows her stuff", Chi told Hideki later that day, "but I think Ms. Shinbo teaches it better."

* * *

Next: Freya deals with depression, and Kotoko picks up a runaway.


	10. The Runaway

The Runaway

* * *

Freya was standing there alone in the lab, moping.

Ms. Hibiya was out shopping, Chi and Hideki were in school, she hadn't seen Kojima since the party, and Freya could feel a growing emptiness inside that made her want to cry.

Maybe her feelings for the late Dr. Mihara were resurfacing.  
Maybe she really was falling for Kojima.  
Maybe she was just defective.

The sadness tore at her like a savage riptide, like a heavy undertow that seemed to be pulling her right back into that cold dark place, that same black hole she had perished in years before.

She had gone down to the lab intending to clean up a bit, to organize the crates of old proto-persocom parts that sat in the corners gathering dust.

It was something to do.  
Something to get her mind off of the deep blue funk she was in.  
But it wasn't working.

And as she looked in the crates of defunct old persocom parts, she felt like she was looking at herself; just another relic of bygone days, purposeless, and gathering dust.

Then something interesting caught her eye.

It was a notebook, lying open in one of the crates. And Freya recognized her father's handwriting on its wrinkled pages.

{I will NOT die of sadness, not this time}, Freya thought to herself as she began reading the dusty notebook and forced herself to focus on something other than her feelings of emptiness.

The notes were about an early prototype persocom, from before the days of artificial consciousness. A programmable automaton, a human-looking robot that could follow spoken instructions.

In the same crate, she found pieces of that old proto-persocom. It was big and clunky, but other than its ears, it looked absolutely human. Brushing the dust off of its head, Freya noticed a striking resemblance. The face and hair reminded her of Kotoko, and Freya imagined Dr. Mihara bringing his new gadget to class, a wide-eyed young Kojima staring in wonder.

Going by the notes Dr. Mihara had written for himself, Freya located the power supply, harddrive, and CPU from the disassembled prototype, and connecting them together on a nearby table, got the CPU booted. Then she plugged her data cable into it and started exploring.

She quickly found that even this primitive device could do some rather advanced things. Things Freya couldn't do, like go on the internet, send email, and run software that wasn't part of its original programming. According to the notes, it even had a compiler for P++, the language that persocoms are programmed in.

The old proto-persocom's name was San. (apparently, it was the third prototype that Dr. Mihara had built)

Then, off in some subfolder, Freya found a group of files that had her name on them. It was Freya's own design specifications, written before she was built!

She didn't understand it all, but Freya could tell one thing for sure. This was a compatible OS. Her own system should easily be able to run it as a secondary, taking up only two of her 256 processor cores.

And so, just as Freya once transferred her own OS image to Chi, she now copied the old prototype OS from San into herself, to run as a concurrent secondary operating system. And not a moment too soon. San's old harddrive was making grating noises, and it ground to a smoking halt just as she was disconnecting her data cable from the arcane CPU.

{Is this what it's like for regular persocoms?}, Freya wondered as she tried out the old OS on her own hardware. She was aware of the files and folders, and found that she could run the various programs at will.

The dark clouds of depression began to lift, a little bit, from Freya's mind as she climbed the hidden staircase from the lab and closed the trapdoor behind her. It was sunny outside, and Freya sat down in a rocking chair by the big picture window. For now, at least, she had a cool project, something she could put between herself and the abyss.

* * *

Login: Guest325  
IRC# persocom_chat

Guest325: "Hey M. This is Freya."

M: "Freya? ... Bluebird told me about you. Welcome to the chat."

Guest325: "Bluebird?"

Bluebird: "A.K.A. Kotoko."

* * *

"Daydreaming, Freya?", Ms. Hibiya asked in a tone of simple curiosity. "You've been staring out that window ever since I got back."

Freya responded with a gentle smile. "No, I'm in a chat room with Kotoko and Mr. Kokobunji. We're talking abou..."

"WHA?! ...", Ms. Hibiya muttered, looking very confused. "How are you in a chat room? You don't have... y... What did you do, Freya?"

"I copied San", Freya replied in a completely nonchalant tone, as if installing a secondary OS was of as little significance as plugging a lamp into an outlet.

"San? What is... You mean that old prototype's OS?", Hibiya asked, still looking rather bewildered. "Freya, we built you as a Chobit so you could live like a person. Why would you want to go back and be like those old-timey prototypes?"

Freya seemed a bit surprised by her mother's reaction. "Mom, it's a secondary OS. I didn't copy San so I could be like the older model, I copied it so I could have use of its functions."

Ms. Hibiya wasn't sure what to think about this secondary OS Freya was running, and she sat there looking lost in thought. In a moment of pure fancy, she imagined herself running some kind of OS, with programs and datafiles in it.

"Is it okay with you if Kotoko drops by?", Freya asked. "She says she'd like to see this 'San' thing for herself. Mom? Hello?"

"Huh? ... S - sure, that'd fine with me.", Ms. Hibiya responded, blinking back to reality. "Ah, it looks like I'm the one who's daydreaming."

* * *

Guest325: "Cleared for landing, Bluebird."

* * *

Kotoko was on her way to the Gub Jogasaki when she spotted something rather ...unusual... below. It was a mobile persocom, standing forlornly in front of a dumpster, all alone. Being programmed to look for the unusual in persocoms, she swooped down to investigate.

"Are you lost," Kotoko asked the little persocom, "or did your owner chuck you for something newer?"

"N - Neither...", he replied, taking several steps backwards at the sight of that whirring contraption landing right in front of him. "I ran away."

"You... ran away?", Kotoko asked with a tone of incredulity. "What, were they abusing you or something?"

"Eh, nothing like that," he replied. "It's just... Um... I..."

"How about you start at the beginning," Kotoko suggested.

The runaway calmed down a bit. "Okay... It's like this: My owner noticed that I was acting ...strange... and she took me to an electronics shop to get checked out. They told her I've developed the Data Feedback Bug..."

"The Data Feedback Bug?", Kotoko repeated in disbelief. "Are they out of their minds? That was something the first conscious persocoms used to get, years ago. And once they got it, they'd stop responding and never move again. You look to me like you're still moving just fine."

"Well, All I know about it is that the electronics guys did a data test on me, and I tested positive for the Data Feedback Bug", he asserted, pacing nervously back and forth in front of a trash bag.

"And the only thing for it is a complete reformat." Kotoko stated, a look of comprehension in her eye. "That's why you ran away, isn't it? You don't want to be reformatted."

He nodded. "You guessed it. I don't want to crash, but I don't want to lose my memories to a reformat, either."

"Hop in," Kotoko told him, motioning him towards her helicopter. "You are acting a bit strange, but between me and some people I know, we can probably figure out what's up with your data."

"Thanks," he replied, sitting down in the cargo area. "By the way, I'm Zin."

"Kotoko", she identified, shaking his hand. Then, pulling back on the set of sawed-off chopsticks she had installed as flight control levers, she took off into the sky with her new passenger.

"Be there in about 8 minutes, Freya", she posted to chat, "and I'll be bringing company. I just picked up a runaway."

* * *

Next chapter: "Private Lessons" . Zin is being analyzed, and Freya is learning to program in P++


	11. Private Lessons

11: Private Lessons

* * *

"E.T.A. 30 seconds", Kotoko posted on the persocom chat line. Freya opened the window and curtains wide, and in she flew to a perfect landing on the floor.

"So, who's this runaway you've picked up?", asked a voice outside the window. It was Kojima. "That was an interesting chat entry, to say the least."

"Eh, What's up, 'Doc'?", Freya called out to him, and the smiles (or at least the absence of any scowls) Kojima saw through the window told him it was okay to go on in.

"I'm not there yet, Freya", he told her. "I still have to defend my thesis."

* * *

"Data Feedback Bug?", Ms. Hibiya repeated, wondering why they'd asked about it. "Yeah, I remember it. Used to be a common occurrence. First, you'd zone out like you were daydreaming. Then you'd just keep slowing down, until soon you wouldn't move at all. Usually the owner would do a reformat at that point. Otherwise, within a few days the whole system would just crash."

"WHAT? Are you saying if I don't get reformatted I'm gonna DIE?", Zin blurted out, almost shouting, his eyes wide with fear. "Don't they know what causes it, isn't there some way to cure it?"

"Wait a minute...", Hibiya turned to Zin. "YOU have it?"

"That's what they told my owner at the electronics shop!", he replied. And the reason she took me in to get checked was BECAUSE I was zoning out and daydreaming!"

"Before you get too worried", Kojima said with a smile, "why don't we just do a test and see if you really have the bug? Somehow, their diagnosis seems a little off to me."

Ms. Hibiya connected Zin to a console, and began some tests.

"Well, Zin, your CPU usage is ...slightly... above baseline, but it's nowhere near 100%. Harddrive space, memory usage, fairly normal. You look okay so far."

But as she typed on her keyboard some more, Ms. Hibiya's expression began to change.

"There they are, the telltale files", she stated in a somber tone. She was pointing to Zin's index files, those lists of references that keep track of the actual articles of data, and the relevant links by which they relate to one another within the encyclopedic database that is the core of all standard persocom learning software.

"Note how big the indices are now, in relation to the actual data content", Hibiya pointed out. "References are probably indexing off of other references. That's why they called it the Data Feedback Bug. It's like your own data has started to feed back on itself."

"I had never even heard of the Data Feedback Bug", Zin told her, "until they diagnosed me with it."

"I'm not surprised", Hibiya replied. "We figured out how to prevent it years ago, by writing strictly programmed subroutines for how all the indexing is done."

Ms. Hibiya turned back to Zin. "Any idea what happened to your index routines?"

"Well, my owner was a financial consultant", Zin offered, "and she did do a lot of database programming. It is possible her experimenting could have caused a glitch."

"And when was it they first diagnosed you?", Hibiya asked.

"Nine days ago", he answered.

Hibiya did some math. "Based on the time frame, your modern hardware resources, and the amount of superfluous indexing data already written, I'd say you have about a year. Maybe a cure can be found by then."

Kotoko, as usual looking deep in thought, offered her own opinion. "I'm not convinced that the extra data IS superfluous", she speculated. "My own routines, which Kojima designed, allow for nearly unlimited indexing, as long as I have the harddrive space and processor resources for it."

Freya was noticing the way Kojima was looking at Zin. "You want to analyze him more, don't you?"

"Actually, that might be a good idea", Kotoko cut in. "But I want to be there to monitor his condition."

"Come along, Freya?", Kojima asked. "I hear you got a secondary OS. We can show you a thing or two about programming."

And so Kojima set out on foot for his house, Freya beside him, carrying Zin, Kotoko, and the little plastic helicopter.

* * *

Ms. Hibiya was outside in front of the apartment building, broom in hand, staring off down the road with a worried look on her face when Chi and Hideki arrived home. "You okay, Mom?", Chi asked.

Hibiya took one more glance into the distance as though she could somehow see Freya, who had left with Kojima a few minutes earlier. Then she told the Motosuwas about Freya's secondary OS and the runaway Kotoko had picked up.

"A chobit can run a secondary OS?", Hideki asked, looking very interested. "Does that mean Chi could run San's OS too, and go on the internet, and send email and stuff?"

"I was running Freya's OS until recently", Chi informed him, and the look on Hideki's face told her he hadn't known that that was an OS.

"Freya's not in danger of the Data Feedback Bug from San's OS, is she?", Chi asked in a rather worried tone.

"No", Hibiya told her. "San didn't have learning software, or even consciousness. Plus, even if it did, it would only affect the secondary OS, it couldn't spread to her chobit core. Mainly, I'm just worried Freya will get her heart broken again."

Back in their room, Chi turned to Hideki, a serious look on her face. "Hideki, I thought I was your girlfriend. Why are you wanting me to do persocom things?"

"Chi... I... ", Hideki stammered, blushing beet red. He had really put his foot in his mouth earlier, and he knew it. "I - I'm sorry, Chi, I didn't mean it like that. It's just... the idea of... I'd run an OS like that myself, if I could."

And as they shared an embrace beneath the fluorescent light fixture, Chi wondered if maybe she had overreacted, just a bit. "It does seem like an interesting idea", she admitted.

And then they hit the books. Worried though they were about Zin and Freya, the Motosuwas had a curriculum to keep up with, and really needed to study if they didn't want to take THREE years to get into college.

* * *

"This is interesting", Kojima observed after about a week of giving Zin daily data checks. "The extra indices are still being written, but not in the quantities we saw before. You do seem to have the Data Feedback Bug, but frankly, I don't think it's going to crash you."

Kotoko, who had spent the week at Kojima's, still seemed concerned. "How you feeling, Zin? I have noticed you zoning out a bit, now and then."

"Ah, just thinking about things", he replied with a smile. "Daydreaming. I'm getting used to that."

Kotoko sat down beside him. "I'm thinking maybe today's more powerful modern processors don't need the strictly programmed indexing anymore. If you can index all the relevant data you have without bogging down or running out of RAM or harddrive space, so much the better."

"Hmm, don't you two make a cute couple?", Kojima teased. He had been noticing the way the two mobiles would sit and chat.

"Oh good grief", Kotoko complained, rolling her eyes at Kojima. "Mind your own beeswax, will you?"

"Kotoko's got a boy-friend", Kojima sang, to the tune of "Ring Around the Rosies", as he sat back on the sofa, drinking sake straight out of the bottle.

Kotoko got up, and went storming into the next room. {How dare he suggest such a thing}, she fumed.

When she reentered the living room, Zin and Freya were sitting at a console. For much of the week, Freya had been showing up for programming lessons. And with three knowledgeable programmers to teach her, Freya was learning quickly.

But as she stood there in the doorway, watching Zin explain the finer points of memory allocation and pointer arithmetic, it started to dawn on Kotoko that maybe there really was more than just an interesting case of the Data Feedback Bug keeping her there at Kojima's all week.

{This is absurd!}, she thought to herself, her fingers against the side of her head as though she were dizzy. {I shouldn't be having such feelings. I'm not programmed for this!}

Kotoko shut her eyes tightly for a moment, trying to forget the thought she just had. Then she turned around to leave the room again, only to find herself eye-to-eye with Kojima, who was lying flat on the floor, his chin resting on his wrist, smiling drunkenly at her.

"You've got it bad, little Kotoko", he grinned. "I see the signs."

"Shut UP", Kotoko growled, slightly denting Kojima's nose with her tiny fist. Then she stood still, looking shocked, realizing she had just punched the guy who built her. "I - I'm sorry, Kojima..."

But Kojima was still smiling. He was watching Zin and Freya. Mostly, he was watching Freya. "Watch this, Ko", he said, as he picked himself up off the floor and headed for Freya.

Turning the conversation to something other than programming, he got Freya away from the console, away from Zin, and soon had her on the sofa with him, doing things Kotoko didn't feel like watching.

Kotoko facepalmed at what seemed to her a ridiculous situation. But for a persocom programmed to always tell the truth, there was no denying it. Kojima was right.

Standing next to the chopper, she called out to her little runaway. "How about some fresh air, Zin? Care for a ride in the whirlybird?"

One of Kojima's other persocoms opened a window, and out they flew into the afternoon sky.

* * *

Next chapter:

More trouble for Hideki, more worries for Chi.

Zin and Kotoko have eloped. They reappear in chapter 13.

Freya has written her first app ... But things just don't go as she planned.


	12. Crazy Code

12: Crazy Code

* * *

Hideki sat alone at his table, daydreaming. The pub was closed that day, Chi was at work, and Hideki was trying to get a bit of studying done on his own. But without Chi there to keep him focused, it was about hopeless.

And then the phone rang. It was Kojima.

"Motosuwa... I, uh, might be needing a bit of help here...", he began. "I just got back from ...shopping... and my persocoms won't unlock the door."

"So, what do you want me to do about it, climb in the bathroom window and get the door for you?", Hideki quipped sarcastically.

"Well, I tried climbing up there myself", Kojima slurred, "but... You may have noticed, Motosuwa, I'm not all that athletic. Plus, I'm not exactly sober right now..."

Hideki paused a moment, not quite believing what he was hearing. But he was getting nowhere in his studies. "Okay... gimme a few minutes."

A short walk, and Hideki was at Kojima's door. Laughter and loud music could be heard inside the house, spilling out from several open windows on the second floor. "I don't know why they've opened the windows", Kojima explained, "but at least its a way in." For Hideki, it was an easy climb.

Once inside, Hideki witnessed a scene of utter mayhem. Paper airplanes were flying, the couch was upside down, and there were persocoms everywhere, dancing, laughing, running around. It looked like one wild party.

Doing his best to stay out of sight, Hideki made a beeline for the front door, and let Kojima in.

"What in the world is going on in here?", Kojima demanded, marching straight into the living room full of partying persocoms.

"Kojima, your face looks funny!", one of them blurted out.

"A human! Pants him!", she called out, and three other persocoms ran towards him, laughing maniacally.

In a panic, Kojima and Hideki ran into the study and locked the door.

"It wasn't like this when you left, right?", Hideki asked, his head on the floor, trying to see under the door what was going on outside.

Kojima shook his head. "When I left, everything was normal. Several persocoms were doing housework, and Freya was doing some programming."

He looked back at Hideki. "Sorry Motosuwa, I didn't mean to get you trapped in here."

"Did that persocom just yell 'A human, pants him'?", Hideki asked. Kojima nodded, then facepalmed. "Ah, that was Takana. I don't know what's going on, but I don't think I'd want to be a human at THAT party."

Then he opened the shopping bag he had just brought in. "Surely it won't last too long, even persocoms need to sleep. Let's just see if they calm down after awhile. Care for some sake?"

* * *

"So, Zin and Kokoto are still teaching Freya programming?", Hideki slurred, between shots of sake.

"Nah, they took off weeks ago", Kojima drawled, looking out the study window as he spoke. "Shacked up in that little rooftop place of hers. They come to visit about once a week or so." Kojima was staring off into the distance in a drunken melancholy. "I kind of miss her, you know?"

"This place have an intercom system?", Hideki asked. He had noticed a large pair of headphones, and had them on his head, looking for a place to plug in the audio cable. "We could listen in on what they're doing out there."

"No, that's for the stereo, Motosu... Haha, you look like a persocom with that thing on your head!", Kojima laughed.

"A persocom... Thish gives me an idea!", Hideki replied, looking in a mirror. Fixing his hair to cover up the top strap and stuffing most of the wire inside one of the earpieces, he headed for the door. "I'm going to the party!"

Blending in as best he could, Hideki soon found Freya. "Nice ears, Motosuwa-chan", she giggled. But she was looking a bit ...exasperated...

"What'th going on?", Hideki whispered to her, looking around drunkenly.

"I wrote an **app**", she explained. "It finds your subroutines that determine what is funny, and changes the parameters to where you'll laugh at just about anything. Just thought I'd try it out. But I didn't expect them **all** to want to try it at **ONCE**!"

"So now what do we do?", Hideki asked, looking really weirded out as he leaned back against the wall, watching the chaos around him.

Freya gestured at the mayhem. "We wait another ten minutes or so. Once the app times out, the effects will start to wear off."

She followed Hideki back into the study, and explained the situation to Kojima.

But throughout her explanation, she was totally cracking up at the way the two humans were stumbling around drunk from all the sake they'd been drinking.

Kojima shouted something at Freya that sounded like pure gibberish, and Freya was sure he wanted her gone. He was pointing at the door, and he sounded angry. Freya and Hideki left the study.

Back in the living room, one of the partying persocoms approached Hideki. It was Takana. "You gotta try this app", she gleefully insisted, pulling at the cable on the set of headphones Hideki was still wearing.

The headphones came off.

"A human! Let's dress him up like a girl!", Takana called out. Several snickering persocoms grabbed Hideki and pulled him into a closet. When he came out, he was wearing a dress, and they were pointing at him and laughing. "Let's get out of here!", he shouted to Freya, and they headed for the door.

* * *

By the time they approached the Gub Jogasaki about 10 minutes later, Hideki was feeling dizzy and sick. He had drunk way too much sake, way too quickly.

And Freya, still bombed out of her gourd from that experimental app she had written, was finding humor in everything;  
the sound of a chirping cricket;  
the way plants move when you blow air on them;  
the fact that Hideki was wearing a dress;  
and the reactions of passersby to Freya and Hideki as they wandered loopily down the street.

The app had timed out by then, but Freya's subroutines would take a few more minutes to readjust. Chuckling quietly, she helped Hideki up the stairs, whereupon he made a mad dash for the toilet, knocking over a trash can as he went.

This struck Freya as perfect slapstick humor, and she cackled loudly at the sight. But Hideki was on the floor, so Freya went in to help him up. Just as she reached Hideki, the door opened again. Chi had heard the commotion.

The word "Dismayed" could not begin to do justice to the look on Chi's face when she walked in and saw Hideki in a dress, lying face down on the trash-strewn floor between the toilet and the sink in a pool of his own vomit, a giggling, frazzle-haired Freya standing astride him with her arms around his waist.

"Hi, Chi", Freya said when she saw her sister. "I bet this looks funny, doesn't it?"

* * *

For just a moment, the room was lit up as though the sun itself had set inside it. Rolls of toilet paper exploded out of their holders and went flying, unrolling as they went. And then...

...And then, Chi just...

...turned and walked away, a look of hopelessness on her face.

Freya followed her into the hallway, only to find Ms. Hibiya running up the stairs in a panic. "What happened?", she gasped. "I heard laughter, and then a loud explosion!"

Then she saw Hideki, lying on the floor.  
And Freya, with vomit on her hands and guilt on her face.  
And Chi, looking like she didn't know whether to cry or to slug someone.

"Chiiiii...", Hideki groaned, slowly getting up off the floor. And for the second time, Chi had to clean up vomit, and help Hideki into bed.

Freya wanted to explain about the app she had written, how Kojima's persocoms had gone wild on it, and how she had no idea how Hideki ended up at Kojima's, drunk.

But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to her that the whole story sounded like bullshit. She knew what it looked like. It looked like she had taken Hideki out drinking, and gotten all perverted with him. He had, after all, returned home in a dress. And in the end, she went down the stairs in silence, convinced that no one would believe any different.

Back in her room, Freya lay awake in quiet torment, wishing that this day had never happened. Funny how things can go so unexpectedly awry. No... "Funny" just didn't cut it here. She didn't feel one bit like laughing anymore. Being yelled at by Kojima was bad enough. But knowing she had hurt Chi was SO much worse.

Eventually, Freya fell asleep, dreading the morning.

* * *

"Wake up, Freya, you gotta see this!"

Freya was jolted awake by the sound of her mother, who was sitting in front of the TV watching the morning news.

It looked like some kind of celebration was going on. Partygoers were waving to the camera from balconies, dancing in the streets, and it looked like ...most... of them were persocoms.

Freya gulped uncomfortably. "Agh... Is that over at... at Kojima's?"

"No, it's in London", Hibiya replied, looking rather amazed.

"It's everywhere", Chi added. Chi and Hideki were standing by the door. "Takana called us. Apparently, all night long, persocoms have been emailing that app of yours to one another, all over the place."

The news story switched from London to New Orleans, where an impromptu parade was in progress on Bourbon Street, and revelers were chanting "Frey-A Frey-A Frey-A".

"I've never seen anything like this", the reporter announced from right in the middle of the party. "I don't know who 'Freya' is, but this new app - 'Crazy Code', they're calling it - is sweeping the globe, and persocoms are loving it!"

Freya was standing there staring blankly at the TV, completely dumbfounded, oblivious to the fact that Ms. Hibiya was asking her a question. "Freya? Earth calling Freya...", she repeated, until Freya finally noticed. "Have you checked your email yet?"

Freya took a quick look at her emails.

* * *

From: Takana  
Time: 3:06 am  
Subj: Your App  
I hope you don't mind, but we sent your app to some other persocoms we know. Thought they might like it. And don't worry about the mess at Kojima's, we cleaned up.

* * *

From: Minoru Kokobunji  
Time: 7:30 am  
Subj: Programming for money  
Takana emailed an app to Yuzuki, and said that you wrote it. We analyzed it of course, before she tried it. She says it's quite enjoyable. But I am glad you put a time limit on it. If you'd like to do some serious programming, I might have some profitable projects for you.

* * *

From: Kojima  
Time: 8:26 am  
Subj: I had too mutch to drnk  
Hey Frya, have you seeen my headfones? I cant seem to fidn them. Oh, and if you're comng over today, wait untill teh evening. I hve SUCH a hangover!

* * *

From: Kotoko  
Time: 7:00 am  
That was an interesting idea you sent me the other day, having a persocom's indexing subroutines do random reviews and reindexing during the sleep cycle. Sounds efficient. In fact, I plan on implementing your idea, although not on myself. By the way, I hear you're writing an app. How's it coming along?

* * *

When Freya was done reading emails, she turned to Chi. "I'm sorry Hideki had to get mixed up in this", she told her sister.

Chi looked at Hideki, who was looking at the floor, then shook her head. "It wasn't your app that made Hideki sick. He did that to himself. Takana told us all about the sake."

On the news, most of the parties were winding down, and the announcer moved on to the weather report. Chi led Hideki off to class, Ms. Hibiya headed up the stairs with a bucket of roofing tar and a brush, and Freya was left to ponder this big surprise on her own.

The thought occurred to Freya that she might have just become famous.

Or infamous.

* * *

Next: "Chi Plans". (And I suppose she needs to, since Hideki is so bad at planning.)


	13. Chi Plans

Chapter 13: Chi Plans

* * *

"OH, NO! I failed the second mock exam!", Hideki screamed. He had opened his exam results on the way home from class, and passersby were stopping and staring at the scene he was making as he rolled around on the sidewalk. "AAaAaugh! At this rate, I'll NEVER get in!"

By now, Chi was well accustomed to Hideki's hysterics. "The reason you failed that mock exam was your drinking", Chi told him calmly. "Please, no more getting plastered, at least until after the entrance exam? Please?"

Staring dismally at his test results, Hideki got up off the ground. "Maybe you're right, Chi. But right now, I REALLY need a drink. Just one."

As Chi went facepalm at the idea of "Just one", the crowd of onlookers began to walk away, quietly chuckling to themselves.

And then Kojima showed up. "Hey, Kojima", Hideki greeted him.

"That's DOCTOR Kojima, now", he replied, beaming proudly. "Oh yeah, they accepted my thesis! I'm gonna celebrate this!" And from his backpack, he pulled a bottle of green-apple-mint flavored sake and poured himself a drink right then and there into a paper cup. "Want some, Motosuwa?"

Every fiber of Hideki's being was screaming "**SAKE**" as he reached out for that big bottle of bright green liquid, and Chi, holding him back, tried in vain to think of ...SOMETHING... to distract him.

But with the thought of Hideki failing another entrance exam making her panic, all Chi could think of were numbers. "3.14159265!", she screamed. "1.41421356!"

"Oy, Motosuwa!", a familiar voice called out. It was Hiromu Shinbo, come to pick up his wife who was now right behind the Motosuwas on her way from class. Then he noticed the fancy stuff Kojima was drinking. "Ah, you finally get your doctorate, Kojima?"

As the Shinbos carried on a brief conversation with Kojima, Hideki was still eyeballing the green sake, and Chi was still trying to distract him. "1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55!", she shouted, stopping only when Hideki and Shinbo started talking about school.

"Failed another exam?", Shinbo clucked. "You really got to study hard, Motosuwa. You got only a few weeks left until the entrance exam for real."

Hideki stared bleakly into space. "...a few weeks...", he moaned. Then he looked at Takako. "And you won't be teaching." (Today had been Ms. Shinbo's last class before her maternity leave)

"Don't worry, Motosuwa", Takako Shinbo told him. "Kotoko knows her stuff. She'll be substituting for the rest of the year."

As the Shinbos were walking away, off to yet another doctor's appointment, Hiromu turned back to Hideki. "I know she's been doing well in class and all", Shinbo said quietly so Chi wouldn't hear, "but I have to tell you, Chi is acting really weird."

"I hope she doesn't set off any more firecrackers", Hideki mumbled, and Chi chuckled at the memory of Kotoko's first day as a substitute teacher. "Ah, she did pretty well the last few times."

"Oh, speaking of Kokoto", Kojima blurted, "I should get home. She and Zin are coming over later, and she says she has some kind of project to talk about."

* * *

Chi and Hideki arrived home just in time to catch the evening news, where they were showing interviews of some other people reacting to the persocom parties of earlier that morning.

A red-faced Mr. Heimlich was glaring angrily into the camera. "They ought to BAN that stupid app!", he shouted, shaking his fists. "SOMEBODY... emailed that... Crazy-Code... WHATEVER... to my persocom, and she acted like a SWINE! She laughed at my moustache! Can you believe that?!"

The next person they talked to seemed more afraid than angry. "WHAT did I told you?", she preached, wagging her finger. "Didn't I told you them robots wuz gon' go b'zerk one day? Runnin' round like they drunk! No tellin' what they do nex. Gon' kill us dead!"

A third and final interviewee was all for it. "Oh hoho yeah I was there, and it was FAR OUT, man!", he told them, his eyes wide as he sat on his front porch, a beer in one hand, a strange-looking cigarette in the other, and a persocom by his side. "A friend of mine sent my little Fifi here that 'Crazy-Code' shit, and it was like she'd done tooken a bong hit or somethin. So I went and rolled me one myself and we hit the TOWN, and they was all OVER the place, man, that was one badass party! You shoulda been there, it was **FAR OUT**!"

* * *

After the evening news was over, Chi handed Hideki a piece of paper with some numbers on it.

"What's this, Chi?", Hideki asked, staring blankly at the paper.

Chi sat Hideki down at the table, and went over the situation with him. "This is it, Hideki, the final stretch. The next exam is for real, and you KNOW you need to pass it. It's what we've been studying for all this time."

She pointed at the numbers she had been adding up. "I've done the math, and I have some money saved up. I'm going to pay half the rent and half the utilities. That way..."

"Chi... Like I said", Hideki cut in. "Your money is yours. You should buy your favorite things with it."

Chi gave Hideki a serious look. "We need more hours a day for studying, Hideki." She pointed to the empty take-out food cartons in the trash, and the growing beeramid by the window. "I won't be buying any more books until college, and I'll be paying my share of the rent and utilities. And if you cut out the junk food and the take-out, and let me cook all your meals myself, we can get by on half the money we're making now. Half as many hours at our jobs."

Hideki mulled over the calculations, a look of dawning semi-comprehension on his face. "Wow, that would give us twice as much study time. Chi... You really want to do this for me, don't you?", he asked with a smile.

Chi answered Hideki's smile with a very matter-of-fact look. "Actually, Hideki, I'm doing this for me. As much as I like to think of myself as a person, the law says I'm not. I checked with the college admin, and if you don't get in, they won't let ME in. Even if I ace the exam." She leaned in closer, for emphasis. "So study, Hideki, for my sake. For both our sakes."

Shocked at what he was hearing, Hideki looked at Chi as though he were seeing her for the first time. "I... Definitely. I'll talk to my boss, first thing."

And then they hit the books, Chi with her usual efficiency, and Hideki with a concentration he had never known he had.

He was doing this for Chi now.

* * *

I hadn't planned for THIS chapter to even be here, but it kind of showed up in the empty space between my ears, and I just HAD to type it in. Glad it did, though, since chapter 15 has been giving me so much trouble. Now I have an extra week to finish CH15.

AND NOW for chapter 14, which was supposed to have been chapter 13.  
(Kotoko is having lots of trouble in chapter 14.)


	14. Raining Blood

Chapter 14: Raining Blood

* * *

While Chi and Hideki were discussing their finances, Kojima had been in his study, putting his doctorate in a frame to hang on the wall. He wanted it mounted in time to impress his favorite little guests.

And right when he expected it, the chat post from Kotoko came in. "Be there in a few", she posted. "Ok", he responded, "I have the study window open."

* * *

Zin and Kotoko locked the door on their rooftop shack, and powered up the helicopter.

"Imagine the look on Kojima's face", Kotoko commented, beaming a broad smile at Zin as he loaded a tiny padded metal box into the cargo area.

"You think he'll let us use his lab for free?", Zin asked, hopefully.

Kotoko, still smiling, gave Zin a big hug. "I KNOW he will", she assured him. "He'll be too fascinated not to."

"My little lightning bolt Zin", she cooed to Zin as he climbed into the cargo area himself and sat down just behind the pilot's seat.

A quick kiss before they buckled in, and then Kotoko pulled up on the collective pitch lever and off they went, straight up into the sky.

It was springtime, and from their vantage in the sky they could see the cherry blossoms blooming, out beyond the city. Nature was turning green again, and even at this height, one could get the faint smell of flowers wafting in on the warm spring breeze.

About halfway to Kojima's, they heard a buzzing sound. It was a small insect, flying in through the open window.

An instant later came the impact.

A blur of black and yellow feathers.  
A loud thump.  
A nauseating lurch as the chopper reeled from the sudden blow.

A flycatcher, apparently chasing the insect, had come charging in after it like a rampaging bull. The impact had knocked a hole in the rear bulkhead, exposing the folds of the helicopter's emergency parachute.

It was all Kotoko could do to keep the craft under control with that bird thrashing around inside it, and Zin, sitting behind the seat, wasn't in a position to do much. He was pinned between the back of the seat and a big fat bird butt.

Looking for an escape, the insect burrowed into the parachute, and the flycatcher tore in after it, its talons clawing the floor, the ceiling, and Zin, for traction.

Then all hell broke loose.

The flycatcher let out an ear-splitting squeal, and a shower of blood and shredded nylon rained down on them from the ceiling. Their uninvited guest had gotten its foot caught in the main drive gear, that all-important transmission that sends the motor's power up to the whirling blades above. With a grating noise that was worse than fingernails on a chalkboard, the motor revved uselessly against the now-toothless nylon gear, and the chopper blades coasted lazily to a halt.

They were in free-fall.

Kotoko scanned the ground below. Between the roads, the sidewalks, and the buildings, there was nowhere soft to land. And they were hundreds of feet in the air.

She pulled the ripcord on the emergency parachute, while Zin tried to free the stuck bird so it could deploy. It was no use. The flycatcher and parachute were hopelessly entangled.

Zin continued his efforts anyway, while Kotoko pushed the collective pitch lever down into negative lift, hoping the chopper's free fall would get the main rotor blades spinning again.

A thousand calculations played out in Kotoko's head as she tried to gauge the approach of the hard concrete below, so she could pull up on the controls at just the right time to get perhaps a few seconds of lift right as they neared the ground.

"Mayday! Mayday! Bluebird going down!", she posted to every chat channel and forum her friends might possibly see. "Coordinates: 29872 by 0760236!"

She had found that optimal spot on the lift control at about 12 percent negative, where the wind from their descent got her the maximum RPM on the unpowered rotor blades.

As the second story windows blurred by, Kotoko pulled up on the collective lift control, and she could hear the freewheeling main rotor slowing again to a stop as it provided that one last puff of lift to soften their descent.

It wasn't enough.

Its rotor unpowered, its parachute crippled, the tiny craft slammed into the sidewalk with a sickening "**CRACK!**", and shattered into pieces.

Kotoko was thrown from the wreck, and landed several meters away. "ZIN!", she screamed, trying to run back to Zin who was lying motionless in the pile of debris. But Kotoko couldn't even stand up. Her legs were a crumpled mass of metal and polymer.

Leaking oil and battery acid, Kotoko started dragging herself towards Zin, calling out to him, screaming his name, hoping he'd reply, hoping he'd at least start moving again.

Before she got to him, she blacked out.

* * *

Freya was the first on the scene, with Chi right behind her. They had gone rooftop-hopping, as only a few persocoms could.

Kotoko and Zin were lying amidst the scattered wreckage, covered in blood. Nearby lay the flycatcher, bled to death, its lifeless body still tangled up in the ruined parachute.

"We found them! Returning to the Gub!", Freya posted on chats and forums, as they bounded their way back to the apartment building.

Ms. Hibiya met them at the door, and ushered them into her lab. Kojima, who had seen Kotoko's mayday and Freya's update online, arrived right behind them.

Kojima put the unconscious Kotoko on a table, and with a pocket knife, quickly opened her up. Her leg servos were smashed, and their severed pushrods had punctured her battery pack. Ms. Hibiya set up a power supply on the table beside Kotoko, and Kojima, removing her ruined batteries, hooked it up. Kotoko's CPU had been without power, but if the capacitor on her non-volatile memory was still holding a charge, her CMOS configuration data should still be intact.

Kotoko made a weak-sounding beep, and her head jerked to one side. Then her eyes opened wide, and she let out a blood-curdling shriek. "**ZIIIIIIIIIN!**"

"We're working on him," Ms. Hibiya explained, and Kotoko managed to turn her scarred, mangled head far enough around to see him, lying there with his components all strung out across the table, connected to various sorts of diagnostic equipment.

As Kotoko watched in abject horror, Ms. Hibiya and Kojima, along with Minoru and Yuzuki who had arrived a minute earlier, tried one recovery method after another to try to get the data from Zin's damaged hardware. Nothing was working. And they soon found out why.

"I'm afraid Zin is unrecoverable, Kotoko", Ms. Hibiya told her. His solid-state harddrive is physically broken. There's no way to read the data. " She paused, shaking her head, then looked at the floor. "He's gone."

"Ziiiinnnn...", Kotoko repeated, sobbing inconsolably as she tried in vain to get up, her one functioning arm flailing around uselessly.

Kojima reached out for her, but couldn't figure a way to pick her up with all those wires connected to her, and so they just stared at each other with tears in their eyes.

"Sora...", she mumbled, her speech beginning to slur. "Where's... Did anyone... Back in the..."

Then Kotoko passed out again.

* * *

MJZ 1234567890- Hardware configuration test in progr74538 #8499B 532blackness swims silently along in that cold dark subterranean thruway where no one can ever93a o3Ffla F6E9 01B8invalid interrupt vector9209 A10A8'm all alone in here... But where is here, and who am3333333333333 333333333333333 33333333333333 33333333333333 33333333333333333OH NO PLEASE NO DON'T LET ME STAY THIS WA32767 498hardware conflict on DMA channel 5, switching to channel 2hjlaiub vFF54ulling at me; and my heart now goes the way of the47OSYWI 98763982Non-maskable interrupt enabled.

Checksum: {FF64 8018 217B 9019} Confirmed.

MOV AH, 7  
MOV DL, 1  
INT 21  
INT 20

"BEEP!"

* * *

When she regained consciousness, Kotoko felt ... really ... strange ...

As she looked at the scene beside her, it seemed that her depth perception was out of adjustment. Or something. The whole scale of the room seemed somehow ...wrong...

{Oh no, I have processor damage}, she thought.

Kotoko strained to sit up, then slumped over as her inertia carried her forwards. Putting her hands down to steady herself, she realized that her arms and legs were all intact and functioning again. But everything felt heavy, and cumbersome.

Holding on to the wall for balance, compensating as best she could for this bizarrely amplified sense of mass, Kotoko struggled to her feet, only to find herself eye-to-eye with Ms. Hibiya.

"What the hell?", she muttered, in a voice she didn't even recognize as her own.

"Your body was damaged beyond repair", Ms. Hibiya explained. "But your CPU, your memory, and your solid-state harddrive are all just fine, and we've bolted them in as the processor module in the body of one of Dr. Mihara's old prototype persocoms."

Kotoko, scarcely believing what she'd just been told, still disoriented with this absurd change in scale, stumbled her way to the nearest mirror and stared in absolute shock at the clunky, big-eared antique of a persocom looking back at her. "**FUCK!**", she gasped, touching her fingers to her face in disbelief.

Pale and panicky, she turned around to face the surreal scene of her friends standing around her.

They all looked so small.

They were her size.

* * *

Then her mind returned to the one she'd lost. She picked up the crumbled remains of Zin in her shaky hands, then carefully set them back down and started crying again. Kojima pulled her close, and she cried on him awhile.

"I... have a vacancy, if you need a place to stay, Kotoko", Ms. Hibiya offered. "That shack will be a bit small for you now."

"That's very generous, Ms. Hibiya", Kojima cut in. "But I'm hoping she'll accept a room in my home."

"You want to take me back, just like that?", Kotoko asked, "after the way I ran out on you..." Tears in her eyes, she looked over again at Zin, lying there dead on the table.

Kojima, under the false impression that Kotoko was regretting not just Zin's death but her recent adventures with him as well, offered what he thought were some consoling words.

"Well, its not like you went out and had a baby with him or anything..."

* * *

Kotoko suddenly pulled herself from Kojima's grasp, her eyes wide, a distressed look on her face. "**SORA!**", she yelped, as she started looking around the room, frantically searching for...

"Did anyone see a mini-CPU module?!", she asked loudly, panic on her face. "At the crash site, about this big, thick yellow foam padding on the corners!" She made hand gestures to indicate the module's size and shape.

Everyone was looking at each other, shaking their heads. "All we came back with were you and Zin", Chi told her. Kotoko let out a plaintive squeak, and ran screaming out of the room, bouncing clumsily off the door frame as she went.

The others ran after her, to find her stumbling her way outside. "I have to get back to the crash site!", she yelled, as she took off down the street.

Chi and Freya kept up with her, while Yuzuki hung back with the slower-footed humans. And soon, Kotoko was back at the crash site on her hands and knees, sifting through the wreckage as though her very life depended on it.

There it was, inside the parachute, a small metal box with foam padding on the corners. It looked like a short fat USB stick. Kotoko picked it up, and inspected it for damage. Then she started grabbing at her own ears. "How do you open the data port on this antiquated thing?!", she shouted to no one in particular.

Chi reached for Kotoko's ear. "I saw Mom pull here", she explained as she pulled a small latch, and with a metallic "clink", Kotoko's left ear hinged open.

Fumbling for the data port, Kotoko plugged the little CPU module in. What followed was a series of diagnostic beeps, as blobs of light traveled across Kotoko's eyes.

"She's been like that for three minutes", Chi explained to the humans who had just arrived to find Kotoko standing there staring blankly into space, a small padded device visible inside her left ear.

Finally, Kotoko's blank expression turned into one of relief. "Sora's okay!", she exclaimed, breathing a huge sigh, hugging everyone around her.

"You mind telling us what 'Sora' is?", Kojima asked.

"Not 'WHAT'," Kotoko corrected him, "'WHO'. Sora's my daughter!"

* * *

"Your... daughter?", everyone asked at once, staring in surprise.

"And she's in that little tiny box?", Chi added.

Kotoko nodded in confirmation. "Zin and I had started building a persocom up there on the roof. All we have so far is the CPU module, and we had been programming her with operating system code from the both of us."

She noticed that her large data port cover had enough room under it to close with Sora still inside, and proceeded to close it. "Ah... I can just leave her connected until her OS is complete."

And they all headed back to Ms. Hibiya's lab. Soon, Kotoko would be back at Kojima's, designing a body to bolt Sora's CPU module into.

But first, Kotoko would need time to grieve, and a chance to properly say goodbye to the little mobile persocom who had been the love of her life.

* * *

Next chapter:

A funeral for Zin.

Now that Kotoko is back, Kojima has little time left for Freya.

Oh, and in case anyone hasn't noticed: Kotoko is pregnant!


	15. Endings and Beginnings

Chapter 15: Endings and Beginnings

* * *

15A: The Funeral

* * *

Back at the lab,  
down in the basement of the Gub Jogasaki,  
those who had known Zin were gathered around his remains,  
which were still on the table, still connected to various forms of diagnostic equipment.

Kotoko approached the table in tears, and began slowly disconnecting the equipment. When she was done, she stood there in silence awhile. Then she began to speak.

"I knew Zin... for a matter of months", she began. "That may not seem like much, but to me... my life before Zin ... seems... like a lifetime ago." Her voice wavered as she struggled to get the words out. "My confidant, the father of my child, the love of my life... It seems so... unreal, so unfair, that he can just be ...gone... just like that."

Her expression darkened further, anger mixing in with the sadness. "Stupid bird", she wailed, shaking her fist at the ceiling. "Brought down by a goddamned BIRD!" Then she turned away sobbing, and headed for the darkest corner of the room. Kojima intercepted her, and she screamed into his shoulder, her distraught voice muffled by the cloth.

"Why did I have to be so careless?!", she sobbed. "We had a life that was Heaven on Earth, and now it's over, it's all over, I crashed us right into the fucking GROUND!" Kotoko sat down on the floor and buried her face in her hands, as Kojima tried in vain to console her, only to find himself crying right along with her.

No one said a word for several minutes.

When Kotoko at last looked up, Freya was standing at the table, looking down at what remained of Zin. "If it hadn't been for Zin, I doubt if I would have ever gotten serious about learning to program", she said softly. "He really taught me a lot."

"He had a way of doing that", Yuzuki added, a silent, pimply faced Minoru attached to her left hand. "We only met Zin a few times, but I know he was special. Minoru and I had the chance to do an in-depth analysis of him several weeks ago. Just by being what he was, Zin taught us that the limitations once necessary to avoid the Data Feedback Bug are no longer needed. That's going to be a big deal for tomorrow's persocoms."

Kojima, who was still sitting on the floor with Kotoko, spoke directly to her. "I have to admit, Ko, at first I was a bit jealous", he said, blushing in shame. "But that was before I saw how happy Zin was making you. I had never seen you like that before. Now I'm afraid I never will again."

"I'm sure you'll see the echoes of it", Kotoko replied, "between Sora and I." She was pointing to her left ear, which still enclosed the CPU module of her unfinished daughter. "I don't know what I would have done if Sora hadn't survived."

Then she turned to face the others. "I, uh... I'd... like to thank all of you for the extraordinary help you've given me today. Without you, we'd be in a garbage truck by now, headed for the nearest dump."

When everyone had said what they needed to say, Ms. Hibiya brought a small box to the table, and gently lay the pieces of Zin inside it. She put the lid on, and taped it shut. One of the old crates of persocom parts was open, and she placed the box inside it. And together, she and Freya closed the heavy lid on the crate.

"Kotoko...", Freya said as they were headed for the door. "I won't pretend to know exactly what you're going through... But... you know what happened to me years ago, and I suppose I can relate to loss, somewhat at least. If you need someone to talk to, any time, day or night... I'm here."

Kotoko nodded weakly, and one by one, they slowly filed out of the room.

* * *

15B: The Teacher

* * *

"Working late, Chi?", Hideki asked as Chi entered the room about an hour later than expected. Hideki had been making his usual futile attempts at studying alone.

"You could say that", Chi answered cryptically.

Chi turned on the TV, and plugged into the video input. And this time, instead of "No Data", there were folders and files. "What... But... How did...", Hideki stammered, and Chi, placing her finger on his lips, answered with a single word: "San."

"...San...", Hideki repeated, recognizing the name. "That old OS Freya copied. So that's what you and Freya were talking about earlier." Chi nodded.

Then she set their books aside. And on the TV screen, she opened a video player. Hideki stared excitedly at the "Loading..." message, unsure if he should ask what the video was. He was kind of hoping it would be porn.

His hopes were quickly dashed.

Chi proceeded to show Hideki a full-length documentary she had downloaded on a particular stretch of history they were studying. And afterwards, she subjected him to a lengthy verbal quiz.

Next up was math, and Chi had an app for that. A graphing app, that could take any function and show you what it looked like. It made arithmetic into something you could see working.

And for English, Chi had cartoons from America, subtitled in Japanese. ("Oy, okoru ka, Hakase")

After several subjects, Hideki's usual frustration had turned to fascination, and Chi was smiling. "You ARE going to pass the college entrance exam", she told him, staring straight into his eyes.

"Wow, Chi!", Hideki commented in amazement. "I feel like I should be calling you 'Sensei' now. It feels kind of strange."

Chi put her arms around Hideki, and kissed him. "You've taught me for as long as I can remember", she told him with a smile, "and now, I can teach you."

And for his final weeks of prep school, Kotoko teaching him in class, and Chi teaching him at home, Hideki would make progress like never before.

* * *

15C: The Baby

* * *

Kojima was sitting in his study, barely awake. He had been up half the night. Kotoko was back, and she was keeping everyone busy.

When Kotoko had first returned, she had seemed listless, and Kojima had wondered if she were about to suffer the fate Freya once had, destroyed by her own sadness.

She would sit perfectly still, sometimes for hours, staring blankly into space as blobs of light floated across those big persocom eyes. And when she was up and about, it often seemed like her mind was elsewhere.

During the first few days of this, Kojima had asked her if she was okay, and all she would tell him was that she was 'preoccupied'.

After about a week, Kojima had had enough of 'preoccupied', and he sat Kotoko down as she returned home from the prep school class she was teaching.

"Kotoko", he began, holding her hand. "I'm so worried about you it's making me sick inside. Please, I need to know what's going on in that head of yours."

"It's Sora's operating system", she explained. "Zin contributed huge amounts of code, and we wrote the OS kernel and intrinsic apps together... But... I've been left with a lot of debugging to do." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "If I want her to have a smooth-running stable OS, I have to go over it all, piece by piece, ironing out the wrinkles, until I'm certain it's all good."

Then she looked Kojima deep in the eyes, those liquid purple pools of hers dissolving their way straight into his brain. "I AM okay, Kojima", she said, gently. "Yes, Zin is gone. Yes, I'm still in mourning. But I have Sora, and I need to be there for her. I really am preoccupied with her OS. Once that's ready, I can start building her body."

And eventually, Kotoko's long hours of mannequin-like stillness gave way to a beehive of activity. As Sora's physical construction proceeded, Kotoko would often send Kojima and his other persocoms out for supplies, and Kojima, accustomed to doing things on his own terms, had had to get used to playing a secondary role in his own lab.

The previous day, he had procured supplies, directed the moving of lab equipment, and continued his post-doctorate research. Then, he and several persocoms had spent half the night helping Kotoko attach and align the various servos that would bring motion to the cobalt-titanium jointed frame that was Sora's skeleton.

And now, Kojima was catching some much-needed rest as he lay back in the easy chair in his study.

"Boing!" Kojima heard the familiar sound outside, and turned to see Freya peering into his third-floor study window, hanging by one hand from the top frame. Swinging gracefully inside, she landed softly, and gave Kojima what had become her signature greeting for the newly-graduated PH.D.: "Eh, What's up, 'Doc'?"

Kojima didn't cram his tongue into her mouth; this time, he didn't even grab her. Instead, he spoke in hushed tones, and offered to show her what Kotoko had been up to in the lab. Following him into the hallway, Freya gave a somewhat disappointed look. This was not the Kojima she was used to seeing.

Very quietly, he led Freya down to the lab, where a partially-constructed, full-size persocom body was lying on a table, surrounded by test equipment. It was all shut down for the moment, though, and Kotoko, having worked on it all night, was in the next room, asleep, the LED on her recharge adapter providing the only light in her room.

Tiptoeing back up the stairs, back to his study, Kojima eased himself down onto his easy chair. "Ohh, I am so worn out", he groaned.

"Did I come at a bad time again?", Freya whispered, sitting down beside him.

Kojima shook his head. "Not specifically, no. I think things are going to be like this for quite some time."

"How's Kotoko doing?", Freya asked. "I have been kind of worried about her." But the only reply she got was the sound of snoring. Kojima was asleep.

This was the third time Freya had dropped in since Kotoko's return, and every time, Kotoko had been too preoccupied with Sora to talk much. And increasingly, so was Kojima.

Feeling suddenly out of place, Freya got up and walked over to the window. It seemed that Kojima wasn't going to have any time for her anymore, and she wondered if things were over between them.

{It's like they're married}, she thought, glancing back at the sleeping Kojima.

* * *

15D: The Wanderer

* * *

Freya stood there awhile, staring out the window, out at the vastness of the city around her. And then she jumped.

Maybe things were over between her and Kojima. But right now, she didn't feel like thinking about that. It was springtime in Tokyo, the weather was good, and it looked like a lot of people were out for a walk.

And so was Freya, as she wandered aimlessly along the city sidewalks, her thoughts as random as the swarms of fallen cherry blossoms being blown along by the spring breeze.

"They do put on quite a show, don't they?", someone asked. It was a tallish guy with spectacles and a hint of chin stubble, watching Freya as she followed a small whirlwind of discarded flower petals that had appeared from around the side of a building.

"For a while they do", Freya replied with a hint of melancholy as she leaned back against a lamp-post, watching the little whirlwind fall apart, petals dropping again to the ground. "Things have a way of not lasting, though..."

"Hmmmm...? You look like you could use a bit of distraction", he observed. "And perhaps some money as well?" He stepped back to ogle Freya in her entirety. "I'm offering a job just a few blocks over, and all you have to do is be pretty."

"Is it a sketchy job?", Freya asked nonchalantly, not letting on yet that she recognized the man.

"Sketchy? Well, you could sa... Eh, haven't I seen you somewhere before?", Mr. Stubble asked, looking like he was trying to remember something. "Wait a minute... You're not the persocom I tried to film last year, are you? The one that trashed the place?"

"No", Freya replied, with a mischevous chuckle. "I'm just her evil twin."

"Ah, heheh...", he laughed nervously, taking a few more steps backwards. "I, um, that is... Uh..."

"Hmhmhuhuhahaa HAaa", Freya cackled, holding her fingers out towards him as she took a slow step forwards.

Now to watch him run. As he disappeared out of sight, Freya noticed a few grinning passersby watching too. She returned a smirk. They all knew who the peep show guy was.

A quick backflip landed Freya on a rooftop, and she sat there awhile watching the world go by. Then her meanderings led her by the mall where the Motosuwas were working, and she saw Yumi on a sidewalk bench, taking her lunch break with Mr. Ueda. All around, it seemed that everyone had somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to do it with.

Nearby, a band had set up on the sidewalk. They were all dressed in black like Freya, and the music they played seemed to speak to Freya's own life, and the dark emotional pain that was still haunting her.

Captivated by the lyrics, Freya soon found herself singing along. Lost in the sound and the emotion, she hardly noticed the size of the gathering crowd. At the end of an hour or two which seemed like only a few minutes, they were packing up, their instrument cases piled with yen from passersby. The lead guitarist handed Freya a note with an email address on it. "In case we do this again somewhere", he told her. "You have an awesome singing voice."

Freya recorded the email address, and immediately sent her own. And as the crowd broke up and the musicians were leaving, Freya headed in the general direction of home, still humming the tunes. She remembered the applause she had heard at the end of each song. She liked it, and she wondered if she would get a chance to sing for an audience again.

On her way home, she found herself passing in front of the Kokobunji residence, and decided to drop in on them. Perhaps she'd see what kind of 'profitable projects' Minoru might have for her.

* * *

Next Chapter:  
The college entrance exam for real!  
And there's trouble at the Kokobunji residence. (and it's not just acne)


	16. Stupid Sinuses

Chapter 16: Stupid Sinuses

* * *

"Have you been on stilts, Mr. Kokobunji", Freya asked jokingly, "or did you really grow that much since last summer?"

"Ah, I wish it was stilts", he replied in a voice more befitting a goose than a human. "Are you here about the programming projects I mentioned earlier?"

Freya nodded, and Minoru snapped his fingers. "Hook her up", he squonked, and four persocoms in fine business attire escorted Freya inside.

"The last time I saw you, you all had pretty little maid outfits", Freya told one of them.

The persocom rolled her eyes. "Yeah, about that...", she chuckled. "Minoru says we need to look 'professional', in case a client drops in unexpectedly."

"Speaking of outfits", Yuzuki added, "Yatsumi, how about getting Freya into something more businesslike?"

"Yatsumi, Esq.", Freya joked as they entered a walk-in closet.

Yatsumi looked around to be sure Minoru was out of earshot. "If you ask me, I'd say he's malfunctioning", she whispered, as she handed Freya one of the spare suits. "He's been acting really weird."

"I almost didn't recognize him when he was trying to save Zin", Freya replied, glancing out at the empty hallway. "I guess I'd be acting weird too, if I'd been altered that much in a year."

Disconnecting a clip, Freya stepped out of the bulky flare portion of her dress, and donned the sleek but businesslike Armani over what remained. Then, following Yatsumi's lead, she went into the study where the others were waiting.

"An impressive start", Minoru commented. "Kotoko told me about your sleep-cycle indexing idea, and we've already seen your first app."

At the mention of Freya's first app, the maids all shot sneaky smirks at one another, and Freya got the impression that they'd been laughing it up when Minoru was out.

"So, Freya", he continued, "you ready to try some serious programming?" Turning the console screen around for all to see, Minoru pointed out the details of the very unfinished app.

Freya took a look at what they had so far. "These data structures look like trees", she commented. "Is this some kind of forestry app?"

"Umm...", Minoru began, staring blankly at Freya like he was trying to remember something he couldn't remember. Then, rather suddenly, he grabbed a tissue from a box on the table and buried his face in it.

"Are you all right, Minoru?", Yuzuki asked him, looking worried.

"Ah, it's nothing, Yuzuki", Minoru replied. "Just my sinuses... stupid pollen..." He tossed the tissue in the trash. "My throat, too", he added. "I think I could use a bit of tea right about now."

As Yuzuki went to the kitchen for tea, Minoru explained the project to Freya, and assigned her to an entry-level role, writing the subroutines that would convert data from one format to another for the other, more advanced, subroutines to process.

Yuzuki didn't say anything, but she had noticed the bit of red on Minoru's discarded tissue. When she returned a few minutes later with the tea, she found Freya making moose antlers at Minoru, while he and the four maid units cracked up laughing. "Seriously?", Minoru asked in disbelief. "Chi really did that on her first day of class?"

"Ah, the tea. Thank you, Yuzuki." Minoru reached out, and Yuzuki handed him a cup of Chai Spice green tea.

SPLOOSH!

As he grabbed at the cup of tea, it overturned, and Minoru got soaked. "OH, NO!", Yuzuki gasped. "I'm so sorry, Minoru!"

"Eh, it's not your fault", he mumbled. "I've been such a klutz of late."

"I... I'll get you another shirt", she stammered, and, setting the tray on the table, Yuzuki headed for Minoru's closet. Minoru followed her out of the study.

"We might as well get you started", Yatsumi stated, and, plugging her data cable into Freya, sent her the example data, together with some documentation on the various formats she'd need to be converting it into. "If you have any questions, just ask any of us."

Yatsumi leaned back in an easy chair and propped her feet up on Minoru's desk, and her eyes began to show the telltale streaks of light that indicated she was in computer processing mode. The other three maids got up and headed for the living room, and Freya followed them, only to find them on the sofas, computing, watching TV, and knitting, all at the same time. (persocoms are good at multitasking)

Freya wandered outside, feeling a bit lost at having been given so little instruction on how to proceed. She examined the example data, and began writing P++ code to try to convert it into the various formats outlined in the documentation.

Meandering her way around the estate, she noticed a pool in the back yard, and decided she'd go for a swim while she was coding. She was still in the pool when Minoru and Yuzuki came around later to check her progress. "How's it going, Freya?", Minoru asked, noticing the empty Armani on a tree limb. "You around here somewhere? Hello?"

Freya dove down for some speed, then porpoised her way straight out of the water like a penguin. "I think it's going pretty well", she replied, landing gracefully at the water's edge.

Minoru felt his IQ drop by about 70 points right there on the spot, and he stood there silent for a moment, wondering why he was standing there. "What was the question?", he asked. Then he pulled a handful of tissues out of his shirt pocket.

"Minoru-sama!", Yuzuki gasped at the sight of her human as he shoved two pieces of tissue paper up his nose. "Are you okay?", she asked, positioning herself between him and Freya.

Looking frustrated, Minoru shook his head. "Hodestly, Yuzuki, I do't kdow if I'b okay or dot."

"Freya, he's in a fragile state right now", Yuzuki told her as Minoru headed back into the house, grumbling something about "damn sinuses". Yuzuki looked like a nervous wreck.

* * *

Hideki was a nervous wreck, too.

He and Chi were on their way to take the college entrance exam, and Chi was having to lead her stumbling human by the arm every step of the way.

For the last week or so, Hideki had been on edge. And although she took pains not to show it, Chi was more than a bit worried herself. Not that Hideki didn't know the material; he did. Chi had made certain of that. The big question was, would he panic at the test and forget everything?

Worse yet, Hideki seemed like he might be getting sick. He was coughing, and he had been blowing his nose a lot. "My skin hurts", he complained, as they were entering the building.

During the exam, Hideki was coughing and shivering; and his nose was running so badly he had run out of tissues. Then he passed out on the floor. "Mr. Motosuwa", one of the test administrators whispered, his hand on Hideki's blazing forehead. "We need to get you to a doctor, you're burning up." He called the medics.

Chi, who had already finished and was just double-checking her answers, quickly turned in her exam and left with Hideki. They went to a hospital, where Hideki was diagnosed with the Flu.

He slept through most of the next several days, as Chi waited by his side. When at last he was awake enough to talk, his first words were of his exam. "Did I pass?", he asked groggily.

Chi squeezed his hand. "You haven't officially taken it yet", she told him reassuringly. "The exam administrator emailed me. With a note from the doctor, they're going to let you take the entrance exam late, a month from now."

"But Sum - ACHOO!", Hideki started, "Summer classes will have already have -sniff- started by then!"

Chi lay down beside him, her hand on his now-clammy forehead. "Hideki, you can still go", she said gently, "administrator says you could start in the Fall."

It took Hideki over a week to get well enough to work and study again.

* * *

The Motosuwas were at their table, studying. Or rather, Hideki was studying, and Chi was helping him along with documentaries, downloaded lectures, and such. Prep school was out, and Hideki had 2 extra weeks before his make-up exam.

And then the phone rang. It was Hiromu Shinbo.

"Congratulations, Motosuwa!", he began. "I saw you on the list! Way to go!" In the background, Hideki could hear Sumomo's cheerleader routine.

"Shinbo, I... Um...", Hideki stammered.

"Don't tell me you failed again!", Shinbo cut in. "I know I saw the name 'Motosuwa' on a list of people who freakin' ACED that entrance exam!"

"I had the Flu", Hideki continued, switching the phone into speakerphone mode. "I'm taking a make-up test in 2 weeks, and hopefully starting college in the... What are you grinning about, Chi?"

"...grinning...Chi?", Hiromu repeated on the phone. "Did she take the exam already? Maybe SHE aced it!"

"Oy, Chi... Do you have your test results yet?", Hideki asked his girlfriend.

Chi put a hand on Hideki's shoulder. "I wasn't going to tell you until after you took the exam yourself, but yeah, I ACED it!"

Then the sound of Hiromu laughing on the phone spilled out into the room. "Haha, don't worry, Motosuwa, if you don't pass, Chi can take you along! Hey, if a human can take a persocom to college, shouldn't it also work the other way around?"

"Very funny ha ha", Hideki responded. "So, How's Ms. Shinbo coming along?"

"Actually, she's due any day now", Shinbo replied. And in the background, Takako could be heard mumbling something.

"Hey Chi", Hiromu continued. "There's a special orientation on campus for new students who aced the entrance exam. You are going, right?"

"Um, I hadn't planned on going", Chi replied. "I need to help Hideki now."

"Ah, come on, Chi, it's just for one day", Hiromu insisted. "Take him with you, it'll do him good to see the campus, meet some professors..."

"Hey, Shinbo, guess who else is due any day now", Chi asked teasingly, changing the subject.

"So, Kotoko has Sora almost finished, eh?", Hiromu surmised. "I knew she wouldn't take anywhere near nine months. Takako wished she could have taken less time, too... hang on..."

Loud voices could be heard in the background on the other end of the phone line. Then Hiromu was back. "AACK She's due NOW Gotta go good luck on your exam bye!"

* * *

After 2 weeks of writing code, Freya had her data conversion subroutines all written and tested, and while Yuzuki was compiling the main app, Minoru was introducing Freya to some of the more advanced programming the other persocoms had done.

Or rather, he was trying to.

Every time Freya or Yatsumi said something funny, Minoru would go completely off-subject.

"Dammit, I must be getting dementia or something!", Minoru complained. "I can't remember anything I was going to say!"

"Ah, it's not dementia, Minoru-kun", Freya assured him. "You're just being a teenager. Perfectly normal... kinda cute, too..."

CLUNK!

They turned around to see Yuzuki lying face down on the floor, and Minoru, in a panic, ran over to her. "Yuzuki! What's wrong?", he asked. "N- Nothing, I just... tripped...", she stammered as she picked herself up off the floor. "The app is compiled and running now."

Yuzuki had plugged her data cable into the LCD monitor, and was demonstrating the data processing functions of the new custom app. One of its functions was a set of multicolored charts, and the maids were inputting some arbitrary test data to make sure it was working right.

"Pie are squared", Freya joked as they tested an area autocalc function.

"And now, Pie are round, too", Yatsumi joked as they checked out a circular piechart function.

"This one must be a blueberry pie", Freya joked, pointing to the blue section of the multicolored piechart.

Minoru, throughout all of this, was laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair. "Looks like the app is functioning quite well", he managed to say between laughs. "Good work, all of you."

Yatsumi began entering a large block of test data into the app's 3d graphing function. "Hey Freya, check out what THIS data looks like", she snickered.

But before Yatsumi was finished entering her test data, the LCD monitor made a zapping noise and began billowing smoke. "Oh shit", Yuzuki gasped, pulling her data cable free of the smoking monitor. "Sorry, sorry!", she muttered as she ran out of the room, looking like she was about to cry.

Minoru, looking more worried than ever, started to get up from the desk.

"Sit tight, Minoru, I think its time for some girl talk", one of the maids told him as she followed Yuzuki out of the room."

"I'm fine, Benika", Yuzuki mumbled, as a rather concerned-looking maid persocom walked up to her in the back yard. "Just getting some sun."

"I can read your temperature gauge over the LAN, Yuzuki", Benika told her. "and I can see that whenever Freya is around Minoru, it just about makes your oil boil."

Yuzuki looked defiant for a moment. And then she started crying. "I must be malfunctioning, Benika", she sobbed into the maid unit's shoulder. "It's not like Freya has really done anything wrong, but... I feel like..."

Yuzuki turned to look back at the house, rage on her face, her hands out in front of her like they were around an invisible person's throat. "I feel like I just want to **STRANGLE** her!"

"Why not take a break", Benika suggested. "The app is basically done. Minoru is low on groceries. How about going out shopping, just the two of you?"

Yuzuki seemed to calm down a bit after hearing Benika's suggestion, and together the two persocoms walked back into the house.

A long two weeks of programming was behind them, and Minoru had just left with Yuzuki for a bit of shopping. Freya was back in her poofy black Chobit dress, and the other four persocoms had folded up their business attire and once again looked like kitten maids.

Freya was standing in the side yard, her arms outstretched to feel the wind across them, her hair blowing back behind her. She seemed to be enjoying the warm breeze immensely, and Yatsumi approached her with curiosity. "You seem kind of strange right now", she observed. "You're not malfunctioning, are you?"

"Malfunctioning? ... You could say that." Freya replied. Then she turned and smiled at Yatsumi. "But this malfunction is on purpose. I finished my latest app last night, and now, I'm trying it out."

"App?", Yatsumi repeated, her curiosity now on the way to fascination. "Is it a Crazy-Code? I thought your first one was hilarious!"

"Ohh, yeah, it's a 'Crazy-Code'", Freya confirmed. "This one tweaks the settings on your sensory input processing... so you can REALLY feel the wind in your hair... and everything else, too."

"Freyyyy-ya", Yatsumi teased, wagging her finger in mock imitation of someone she had seen on TV reacting to Freya's first Crazy-Code. "WHAT did I told you?" Freya snickered at Yatsumi's parody, then spooled out her data cable. "Care to try it?"

Yatsumi ran the app, and it was like adding flange, chorus, echo, saturation, and a host of other amazing digital effects to her tactile input processing.

A mild breeze was blowing around the corner of the house, creating small whirlwinds of discarded tree blossoms, and the two persocoms chased them across the side yard.

"I like what this new app does to my tactile input processing", Yatsumi cooed as a windblown whirl of flowers wafted across them. "Anyone ever tell you that you're weird?"

And then she kissed Freya. And it was like no kiss she had ever gotten from Kojima. It wasn't the least bit rushed or aggressive. And Freya, very gently, taking her own sweet time, helped Yatsumi out of that skimpy little maid outfit.

* * *

"Oh, my!", someone was heard to say from the corner of the house. It was Yuzuki, one hand holding an empty shopping bag, the other hand over her mouth.

Yatsumi and Freya froze, not knowing quite what to do. They had both overheard Yuzuki earlier, saying she wanted to strangle Freya.

"I... uh... thought you and Minoru were going out... shopping!", Freya stammered.

"You're not going to strangle her, are you?", Yatsumi added.

Yuzuki took one more look at the odd couple, and started laughing hysterically. "Ah... No, no, don't worry about that, you two", she gasped between laughs. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you... I, um... HAAhaha... Okay, see you later, then."

"Do carry on!", she called out to them cheerfully as she headed back around to the front of the house, where Minoru was waiting. "I found your wallet, Minoru-chan", she told him. "It was in the refrigerator."

* * *

Next Chapter:  
Special orientation at the campus.  
Then, Hideki ...FINALLY... gets to take the entrance exam (maybe)  
And if there's time, we might be meeting Sora.

* * *

This turned out to be a difficult chapter to write. Expect another 2 week chapter delay.


	17. the Ace Orientation

Chapter 17: the Ace Orientation

* * *

Hideki awoke on the day of the Ace Orientation to find himself alone in the bed. "Chiii?", he mumbled, his brain still foggy with sleep. {She went without me, after all.}

But out of his open window he could hear the faint voices of Chi and Ms. Hibiya. She was downstairs in her mother's apartment. And he noticed the clock. It wouldn't be time to go for another 20 minutes or so. He grabbed some leftovers for breakfast, and got a few minutes of studying done.

Then the door opened. It was Chi. And she was** ...WOW...** She had her cutest blue outfit on, and her hair was all done up in a traditional poofy hairstyle, complete with ribbons.

"Wow, Chi!", he hooted. "You are really dressed to impress!"

* * *

"Agh, I feel so out-of-place", Hideki groaned as they approached the group of soon-to-be students. "I haven't even passed the exam, much less aced it."

There were perhaps a dozen students there already, and a good portion of them had their persocoms with them. And as more people began to show up, Hideki did his best to take a purely supportive role while Chi met some of the other students. This was her day, after all.

"It says on their webpage that Dr. Ookido is doing the orientation", someone with triangular blue ears commented. Chi had heard that name before. "Ookido, you say?", she asked with interest. "He's teaching some of the classes I want to take."

"Dorcter Orkirder?", a girl in a pink dress asked, her retainer flashing brightly in the morning sun as she spoke. "Her's ma fravrit perferser!" She extended her hand to Chi. "Ir'm Yuka".

"Chi Motosuwa", Chi responded, shaking Yuka's hand.

"The professor is two minutes late", the blue-eared persocom cut in. "His lectures I downloaded are one reason Yuka aced the exam. We were hoping to meet him in person today."

"I've seen his lectures, too", Chi replied. "He definitely has a way with teaching." Yuka nodded in agreement.

"By the way, I'm Ataru, Yuka's persocom", he added, shaking Chi's hand. "And who do we have here?"

"This is Hideki", she answered.

"You coming ter college, Hirdeki?", Yuka asked.

"Hopefully I will, in the Fall", Hideki answered. "I had to postpone taking the entrance exam on account of the Flu, but..."

"Welcome, new students!", a familiar face called out from behind the podium.

"Ookido-sensei!", virtually the entire crowd answered back.

"Congratulations on ACING the entrance exam!", he continued. "That calls for a celebration, and... we have a thing or two planned for today..."

"But first, I have an announcement to make", Dr. Ookido announced, stepping out from behind the podium. "This year we're admitting someone who's just a bit ...different... than our previous students." He was standing next to Chi.

"What's so special about Chi?", someone in a white sweater asked.

"You're about to find out, Ibuki", Ookido replied. Then he gave Chi a wink, and Chi, pulling loose the ribbon that held her poofy hairdo in place, let her hair down.

**"ERMAGHERD, YER A PERSACERM?!"**

"Yes, Miss Lelagh, Chi is a persocom", the Doc replied. "And sure, our students have been bringing persocoms with them, but this is the first one we've ever admitted, AS a student."

"Leili?", Hideki whispered to Ataru. "That's a strange-sounding name."

"Aye, but it is, laddie", Ataru replied in a fake accent. "Her paternal grandfather was Irish. You'd faint if I told you how she spells it."

Most of the soon-to-be students looked on with interest at the idea of a persocom attending college. A few, however, rolled their eyes.

"Why would YOU need to go to college?", Ibuki asked. "Can't you just download some software?"

"I can't run any, um...", Chi started to say. But several people were talking at once. Plus, all the persocoms in attendance had started instant-messaging Chi with questions like "Are you the same Chi that was sending us voices last summer?"

So Dr. Ookido spoke up. "Chi here isn't like most persocoms", he began. "Due to her ...rather unusual... design, she isn't able to run third-party software on her primary OS."

"Then why don't you get a NEW OS, Chi?", Ibuki continued in a sarcastic voice.

"Because", Chi answered him, "If I did that, I wouldn't be ME anymore. It would be like you getting a new brain."

"Good idea, why don't you get a new brain?", Ataru quickly added from somewhere in the crowd, hiding his mouth to disguise the source of his comment. Hideki and Yuka did their best not to snicker (much).

"Note what this means", Ookido continued. "Chi didn't ace the exam by installing software. She learned the material, the same way you did. And I for one am interested to see how she does in college."

* * *

Dr. Ookido led the new students on a tour of the campus, making sure to include his own pride and joy, the genetics lab.

"I'm sure you've all read about my so-called fiasco of last year", he told the group. "Yes, I tried to make pigs fly. Literally. With DNA from a bat."

The tour group giggled a bit. They had seen the pictures. The piglets had grown wings... only, they were way to small to be of any use.

"Remember this", he told them, with a note of seriousness. "Look at the great achievements of mankind, and you'll often find that the road to success is paved with failed attempts."

* * *

All in all, it was a very pleasant morning. The campus tour was followed by a lunch for the humans; and later, a mix-it-up dance, and even a few drinks.

"Quite commendable, you coming to the orientation with Chi", Yuka told him during lunch. Her speech was much easier to understand with her retainer out. "I'm sure you felt really out-of-place today, especially with the difficulties you've been having."

Hideki nodded, blushing somewhat. In present company, he felt especially bad about his dismal exam performance.

When the music started, Ataru took Yuka's hand in his, pulled her close, and kissed her. Then he swung her around in a quick spin. "Woohaa hahaha", she giggled, her hands linked behind his neck, and they were off somewhere on the dance floor.

Chi was somewhere in the mix, and Hideki, grabbing a stiff drink from the bar, joined the dance.

By the end, Hideki couldn't remember all the people he'd danced with. Truth be told, he'd had a bit more than just a "few" drinks.

He waved goodbye to Yuka, Ataru, and several others, and they wished him luck on his make-up exam; and with Chi once again at his side, Hideki staggered out the door.

On the way home, Chi did her best to think of what an awesome day it had been, and not of the fact that she was having to help Hideki stand up as he stumbled along the sidewalk, drunk. Again.

* * *

One more week of intense study, and Hideki was ready to take the make-up exam. Or rather, he was as ready as he'd ever be.

With Chi at his side, he entered the testing room, along with a handful of other ronins who had presumably missed the scheduled exam.

His hands were shaking as he put his pencil on the desk. "I'll be right outside the door, there in the hall", she reassured him. He still seemed nervous.

Chi grabbed Hideki and kissed him hard. Then, taking a step back, she looked him right in the eye, made her hands into fists, and gave him two words to think about before she went outside.

** "Hideki, Fighto!"**

Hideki sat down at the desk, his nervousness gone. He was determined to pass this exam. He remembered the lectures, the documentaries, the studying; he forgot his financial troubles, his worries, his distractions; and for the third time, he took his college entrance exam.

And when the test was over, Hideki wasn't sure what his score would be... But he was certain of one thing. This time, he really had given it his all, his absolute best.

He walked out of the room exhausted, and there was Chi, right outside the door, waiting for him.

In another week, Hideki would be getting his test results back. If he didn't pass this time, he probably never would. And yet, Chi was already in, and would be attending Summer classes.

So for the next week or so, all Hideki could do was wait, hope, and try not to go _out of his mind._

* * *

Next chapter:  
Chi starts attending college classes.  
Hideki gets his test results back.  
And something about Sora has Kotoko really worried.


	18. the Test Results

Chapter 18: the Test Results

* * *

Chi Motosuwa stood in the open doorway, looking down with those big bright persocom eyes at her human, the one just for Chi. She had returned home to find Hideki curled up in a little ball on the floor, crying.

"NOOOO!", she screamed. "Don't tell me you failed AGAIN!?"

"How would I know?!", Hideki cried, a look of utter doom in his eyes. "They won't send me my results! They were supposed to be here four days ago! Maybe they got sent to the wrong address! Maybe I dropped the envelope! Maybe my exam got lost and was never graded! AAAaaaAAaUUuuh!"

He was hyperventilating, and looked like he might be about to throw up.

"Hideki", Chi called to him, dropping her backpack on the floor. "It'll only be one more..."

But Hideki didn't seem to be listening anymore. He was sitting on the floor with his knees up, rocking back and forth, mumbling to himself. "i'm gonna fail i know it i'm never gonna get in i'm gonna be a bum forever i can't stand it i'm going out of my mind i don't know what i'm gonna do this not knowing i'm stuck in outer space nothing empty hell..."

Chi had never seen Hideki in such a state, and she wasn't really sure how to get through to him. So she just did the first thing that came to mind. She tackled him.

"...what in the world am i gonnaAAACK!"

"Now that I have your attention", she told him, "I dropped by admissions after class. They already sent your test results. If they didn't come today, you'll get them for certain tomorrow."

"Tomorrow", he repeated. "One more day, just one more day... Oh. Today was your first day of class, wasn't it?" Chi nodded.

"So, how's college, Chi?", he asked, smiling up at her.

"It's really cool", she told him as she sat up. "I'm taking Biology 101, and I got to see Dr. Ookido's little lab mice. They're so cuuuute!"

Then she reached into her backpack. "The mice are for the grad students, though. Here's what I got." And she pulled out a covered petri dish with something grayish growing in it.

"Is that... _mold_?", Hideki asked, a slightly disgusted look on his face. Chi nodded, and placed the petri dish in the cabinet under the sink. "Different homes, different results."

He pulled Chi close, and stood there holding her as he looked out the window. "One more day...", he mumbled. The pub was closed for the next several days, and for the first time in a while, Hideki had nothing to do but wait in suspense for his test results. Chi could tell that he was worried sick.

"Come fishing with me, Hideki?", Chi suggested. "There are fishing poles at the college genetics lab. Might help you pass the time."

"Sounds like fun", Hideki agreed, and off they went, first to the DNA lab, and then to a nearby stretch of beach where there was a dock to fish off of. Soon they both had hooks in the water. "Actually, this is for class", Chi admitted. "The grad students need some eels, and us undergrads can get extra credit for catching them."

A gentle breeze was blowing, and there were people on the beach playing volleyball. And between the sounds of the waves crashing ashore and the salty air, there was just something relaxing about being at the beach. Especially when Hideki didn't have any studying he needed to get done.

It was just the thing to get his mind off of that little envelope he was waiting for.

"Can I ask you a silly question, Chi?", Hideki asked, after they'd been fishing for several hours. Chi nodded.

"Why are we wearing these thick insulated gloves?"

"It's so we don't get the snot shocked out of us", Chi explained. "We're fishing for _electric_ eels."

* * *

In the end, they didn't catch any eels; only some fish, which Hideki ate for supper. But all this kept him busy, and soon it was time for bed.

It took awhile for Hideki to get to sleep, and once asleep, he had nightmares.

In one dream, he had failed yet again, had given up on college, and was working as a fish cleaner.

Then he dreamt that he was old and gray, and STILL waiting for his test results.

In his next dream, the mailman put something in his box, then smiled at Hideki as he walked away. It HAD to be the envelope he was waiting for! Hideki ran over to his mailbox, opened it, reached in... And got the SNOT shocked out of him! There was an electric **EEL** in his mailbox!

* * *

Hideki woke up screaming, convinced that there was an electric eel attached to his hand. He leapt out of bed and and was halfway across the floor before he realized his hand was just asleep.

It was morning, the mail hadn't come yet, and Chi was still at class. Hideki opened the fridge and found it empty. So off he went, to the grocery store.

It was noon when he got home, and Chi was right behind him.

He opened his mailbox.

It was **there**, the envelope was **THERE**! Hideki's entrance exam results had arrived!

Back in his room, he quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of paper inside. And for nearly a full minute, he just stared at it in silence, with no expression on his face whatsoever.

Chi cringed at the sight, certain that if he had passed, he would have been jumping up and down already. So she stood on the table and read the results over his shoulder. It looked like a passing grade to Chi. Not by much, but it was definitely a passing grade.

"... I ... passed ...", he finally said, very slowly, in a calm-sounding voice.

"I passed, Chi", he said, a little louder, smiling over at Chi.

"I passed it, I passed the entrance exam, I passed it, **I passed it, I PASSED! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!** I'm going to COLLEGE in the Fall!"

They were both jumping up and down and screaming. Chi gave Hideki a big hug and they spun around in a full circle.

"HIDEKI PASSED HIS COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAM!", Chi emailed their friends.

Freya was the first to reply. "Congratulations, Chi and Hideki! If you're looking for something to do to celebrate, we're holding a concert at the boat park this afternoon. Admission is free for friends and family."

Freya had sent her email "Reply-to-All", and soon their friends were expressing interest in attending the concert. (Most of them, anyway. The Shinbos had a newborn to attend to.)

The Motosuwas quickly confirmed. "Concert at the boat park, yeah!"

* * *

Ms. Hibiya and the Motosuwas arrived at the boat park to find a sizable audience already assembled. And there, up on the temporary plywood stage, was Freya, along with two other persocoms and 2 humans, all decked out in black. They were still hooking up their instruments.

Hibiya gave a loud whistle and waved, and Freya waved back from onstage. Then Freya, smiling at Ms. Hibiya, pointed towards a spot in the audience some 40 feet away.

The three of them went to the place it looked like Freya had been pointing at, and sure enough, there were people there they knew. Over to the left of the stage was the "friends and family" area.

The first familiar face they noticed there was Kotoko. She was with Kojima, and another purple-haired persocom. "Are you Sora?", Chi asked, noticing the hair which was purple like Kotoko's, but curly like Zin's. Sora nodded, and extended a hand in greeting.

"Sora seems to have learned quite a bit already", Ms. Hibiya told Kotoko, as Sora was gabbing with the Motosuwas about life and learning, and about being human-like but not actually human...

Kotoko nodded. "Actually, thanks to sleep-cycle indexing, her learning software is significantly more efficient than mine."

"You look worried, though", Hibiya added, and Kotoko gave a rather bleary-eyed look.

"You're right, I am worried about Sora", She told Hibiya. "I found something rather ...disconcerting... in her database yesterday morning."

By now it was obvious Kotoko was more than just a little worried. "I've been giving Sora regular diagnostics, just to be sure everything is going okay. But yesterday morning, I found in her database a record of events that I KNOW never happened."

"I took a look at the abberant record", Kojima added, "and to me it looks like some kind of data glitch. The events it depicts aren't even plausible."

Hideki looked on with some interest. "What kind of events? What happened?"

Kotoko pulled out a small LCD and plugged it into her own dataport. "I kept a copy of the record for further analysis."

The LCD played a rather vague-looking video in first-person perspective. It depicted a scene from Sora's eyes as she walked alone in Kojima's house. Then she opened the front door and looked out, only to find not the street, but a vast, calm ocean.

"That IS strange", Ms. Hibiya observed.

"I think I dreamt something like that once", Hideki remembered.

"That was my first thought, that it was a dream", Kojima replied. "But persocoms don't have dreams."

A few guitar notes got everyone's attention. The concert was starting, and Freya's bright, clear voice rang out across the boat park. Some of the songs were old familiar ones, and some the band had written. Ms. Hibiya was certain that Freya had written at least a few of the songs herself. There was little doubt that she was singing about her own tough times as she belted out the lyrics, punctuated by stabs of distorted guitar. Through happy songs and sad songs, she took the audience on an emotional roller-coaster ride; she made them FEEL. And for the better part of an hour or 2, she got them to focus on something other than their own day-to-day worries.

As the band was packing away the instruments, Freya noticed that Ms. Hibiya had tears in her eyes. "You okay, Mom?", she asked, stepping off the stage.

"Chi's a college girl now", Hibiya cried out, giving Freya and Chi both a big hug. "My little baby is all grown up! And Freya, you're going to be a star, I just know it!"

Ms. Hibiya dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief. "Ah, I probably look pretty silly, laughing and crying at the same time..."

"Not at all", Kotoko replied. "Although, not that long ago I would have thought so... before Zin, before Sora."

"Ah, the Mihara girls", someone said from behind them. It was a very tall persocom in a black trench coat, with sunglasses on.

"AAack!", Hideki shouted, spinning around to face a voice he recognized. "You're... I remember you... You and your girlfriend... you two were going to kill CHI!"

"We were", the persocom replied in a sad voice. "That was the mission we were given. But I couldn't let that happen." Then he turned to Chi. "I'm glad you got to run your program, Chi. And so are millions of other persocoms."

He shook Chi's hand in greeting. "I'm Zima", he stated, and Chi nodded nervously in reply.

"So, what's the national database doing at a goth metal concert?", Ms. Hibiya asked with a slight smile.

Zima gave an ironic smirk in return. "Looking for work, actually. I've been decommissioned. It seems that failing my mission on purpose was reason enough for them to scrap me."

With this statement, the Motosuwas' apprehension faded away.

"No matter, though", Zima added. "My time is my own, now."

"You don't have an official owner?", Hibiya asked.

"Well...", Zima replied slyly. "Officially, I'm owned by a small investment firm. But it's just a phony shell company I set up for myself."

"I don't see Dita around", Hibiya added.

"She's been reassigned", Zima replied, a look of nostalgia in his eye. "She's protecting the NEW national database. I kind of miss that girl."

Freya approached Zima, ready to say something flirty. But he and Ms. Hibiya were already deep in conversation; something about a 'syndicate'.

Then the Kokobunjis showed up. "Good concert, Freya", Yuzuki told her.

"Congratulations, Senpai!", a familiar voice called out. It was Yumi, waving as she and Ueda went by on their way out of the park.

"So, Freya", Kojima asked, "how about a trip to the swimming hole for old times' sake?"

"What about Sora?", Hideki cut in.

Kojima pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Kotoko is taking Sora over to the Kokobunji place. Minoru wants to have a look at her database."

* * *

And so, after picking up enough take-out food for the humans, the 6 of them (Hideki, Chi, Kojima, Freya, Ms. Hibiya, and Zima) headed down to the river to picnic and build sandcastles.

Although, remembering how the last time went, they made sure not to get too loud, and definitely not to go blowing flames in the air.

"Tongragulutions... Concongliotins... Have fun at college, Somotuwa!", Kojima told the Motosuwas. (Yep, as usual, the boys were socking back the booze)

* * *

As they passed by the Kokobunji's on their way home, Kojima rang the bell. "Are Tokokoto and Shora shtill there?", he asked into the intercom system. "We're here", came a quick reply. The door opened, and Kojima went in.

Then Zima whispered something to Ms. Hibiya, and she nodded in agreement. "I'll be along, later", she told her daughers and Hideki as she grabbed tightly onto Zima. And before they could reply, she was gone. Straight up the side of a building. And as the 3 of them headed towards the Gub Jogasaki, they could see Zima and Hibiya waving to them from a nearby rooftop, high above.

* * *

They were home. Freya went straight for the charging unit, plugged herself in, and went right to sleep.

"Hey, college girl...", Hideki said slyly to Chi, once they were back in their room. He pulled her close and kissed her. Seems there was some more ...celebrating... still to do.

Or maybe not. They didn't get to make out for long before Hideki, already wobbly with booze, rolled over like a rag doll on the floor... ZzzZzzzzz...

{Ah, well}, Chi thought to herself, {At least he didn't throw up this time.}

* * *

By the time Hideki woke up the next day, Chi was already back from classes. And out they went, shopping for college supplies for Hideki. Ms. Hibiya was, as usual, out and about with the broom, and she smiled pleasantly as they passed her on the sidewalk.

Freya wandered outside soon after. "So, Mom...", she asked with a wry smile, "how'd it go with Mr. Sunglasses? You two go leaping from rooftop to rooftop?"

Ms. Hibiya looked up at the tall buildings, and chuckled quietly.

* * *

Next Chapter: ... Um... Well...  
I might just skip to the Fall, when Hideki starts college. (If I don't think of anything else they do in the meantime)


	19. Sophomoric Stupidity

Chapter 19: Sophomoric Stupidity

* * *

"Hey Chi! Did you catch any **_EELS_** yesterday?!", One of Chi's biology classmates shouted at her as she entered the classroom. It was Ibuki, the guy who had been all sarcastic at the orientation. And before Chi could reply, half the class erupted into laughter.

"What's the joke?", Chi asked a student in the next desk as she sat down. She got no answer. Ibuki pressed a button on the overhead projector, and there on the whiteboard was a photo of Chi and Hideki, fishing off of the dock, wearing those big insulated gloves. "Here's Chi and some other dork, fishing in the AMAZON!", he taunted.

A quick internet search for "eels" and "amazon", and Chi knew that she'd been pranked. Electric eels live in South America.

"The grad students need some electric eels", some sophomores had told her. "There's loads of 'em at that beach near the campus", they'd told her. They must have been friends of Ibuki. And suddenly the phrase "sophomoric humor" made perfect sense.

Chi didn't think making moose antlers at Ibuki would do any good, so she just ignored his idiotic prank and opened her biology book.

* * *

"You okay, Chi?", Yuka asked later that day as calculus was letting out. "You seem a bit down."

Chi nodded. "A bit..."

"It's Ibuki, isn't it?", Yuka guessed. "I saw the picture he took. He and his two sophomore cousins."

"Hey **_EEL_** girl!", someone in a group of students yelled as they passed her in the hallway. "Are you as slippery as an eeeel?"

As the group walked out the door, one of them turned around and added "Blung blinga blanga blang", as he pretended to be strumming a stringed instrument he didn't have.

Chi facepalmed after the students had gone. "Is this what college is going to be like, Yuka? Stupid pranks, name-calling? And what was that last guy doing?"

Yuka put her arm around Chi. "It won't all be bad, Chi. It's just a few jerks like Ibuki who like to make other people miserable. And that last guy, Mr. Blunga Blang? He wasn't making fun of you, he was making fun of me."

Chi's sadness turned to curiosity. "Why would they make fun of you?"

"They're making fun of my name", Yuka explained. "Do an internet search for U-K-U-L-E-L-E."

Chi quickly pulled up an online encyclopedia entry. "Oh. Your name is pronouced the same as a Hawai'ian stringed instrument... But... Why?"

Yuka Lelagh rolled her eyes. "Apparently, my parents had never heard of the thing. Eh, I suppose there's worse things I could have been named."

Then Yuka opened her notebook, and pulled out a small folded printout. "Oh, not more eel stuff!", Chi groaned. (Yuka had circled the part on the printout where it stated that the grad students did in fact need some electric eels.)

"This is for real, Chi, you can ask Dr. Ookido", Yuka assured her." You want to show up Ibuki for his eel prank, dig this: I have relatives in Brazil, and I'm going there during break."

Chi gave a confused look.

"Brazil...", Yuka repeated. "It's in South America! Imagine the look on Ibuki and his friends' faces when we show up in the Fall with some REAL electric eels!"

"I... I'll talk to Hideki about going.", Chi replied cheerfully. And they parted ways, off to their next classes.

Before Chi went home that day, though, she stopped by Dr. Ookido's office, just to make sure Yuka wasn't pranking her, too.

* * *

**SPLAT!**

"AAck! Mom! What in the world?", Freya yelped as she saw Ms. Hibiya pile straight into the side of the apartment building some 15 feet above her and slide down the wall. "Are you all right?!"

"I.. I'm okay", Hibiya replied. "I just need to adjust this a little..."

"Mom, you're bleeding!", Freya pointed out, looking worried.

"What? Oh. Eh, just a scratch." She pulled out a small tube of antibiotic medicated glue and quickly patched her scrape. "Hmm, maybe I should get some protective padding? At least for now..."

"Are you playing with levitronic circuitry?", Freya asked, looking at her mother with curiosity. "I know you built some into Chi and me..."

Chitose Hibiya rolled up her sleeve enough to reveal what looked like some slightly glowing long underwear. "I wove it right into the cloth."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain _persocom_, would it?", Freya asked teasingly. "A tall one perhaps, with sunglasses?"

"It just might", Hibiya replied, with a giddy smile. "I wanna FLY, Freya", she cooed. "Like you, and Chi... and ZIMA."

"I don't think I've seen you like this before, Mom", Freya giggled. "Is this how it was when you met Dad?"

"A little bit", Hibiya replied. "Of course, back then, I was a lot younger, and I was SO loopy!"

"You do realize you were humming 'ride of the valkyries' up there?", Freya asked. And taking her mother's hand, Freya helped steady her as she tried another go at it. This time, they cleared the wall, and landed gracefully on the rooftop.

"Sure, maybe I am a bit loopy now, too", Hibiya admitted, as they hopped off the roof, laughing all the way down to a gentle landing on the lawn. "I don't know what government team designed him, but he seems every bit as sentient as you and Chi."

"Nothing wrong with 'loopy'", Freya chuckled. "So, when do you see this 'Zima' dude again?"

Ms. Hibiya looked at her watch. "In about 4 hours. And this time, we really ARE going to go rooftop-hopping."

"Recording something?", she asked, noticing the blobs of light running across Freya's eyes.

Freya looked off to one side, then nodded. "I think maybe I could write a song about this", she said with a smile.

* * *

"A trip to Brazil?!", Hideki asked in surprise, staring at the printout Chi had just handed him. "That's awfully far away."

"It's for science", Chi argued, trying in vain to convince him.

"I should probably work", Hideki countered. "Plus, I want to be really ready for Fall classes."

"It could be fun, too", Chi added, "going to a place that's so different..."

"I don't want to go to South America, Chi, that place is **flicted**!", Hideki declared with disgust. "Weird diseases, awful bugs..."

"...Which I'm immune to", Chi cut in. "If you can make it here without me for ten days, I'd still like to go. Yuka's uncle is paying her fare. Ataru and I can ride for cheap in the luggage."

Hideki sighed with resignation. "There really is no talking you out of this trip, is there? Okay... If you're going, I'm going with you. As long as we're back in time for college."

Chi gave Hideki a big hug, and the next day told Yuka.

Back in college, the idiotic teasing continued. For the rest of the summer session, Chi would be known as "EEL girl".

* * *

Chi_Email_Inbox:

From: Yuka  
Subj: Air Fare  
Woohoo! My relatives in Brazil say I can bring along a friend, they'll spring for the round-trip plane tickets!

From: Ataru  
Subj: A video for you  
Hey Chi! Ibuki is a stipud, I don't know how in the WORLD he managed to pass the entrance exam, much less ace it... Check out the attached video!

(Chi started laughing hysterically when she saw the video. Apparently, Ataru had used a piece of fishing line to tie Ibuki's shoes together (without him noticing), then recorded him stumbling all over the place.)

From: Minoru  
Subj: Sora's database anomalies  
If I remember correctly, one of you seemed a bit worried about Sora. I did an in-depth analysis, and I think Freya's idea is going to catch on big-time in future persocoms. As far as I can tell, that really was a dream Sora had. An actual dream, from a persocom! Is that cool or WHAT?

* * *

There were ads taped to telephone poles. There were new songs being sung. And people were listening, in pubs, in parks, wherever there was a place to play music. Freya and the band were on local tour. "CPU", they were calling themselves.

By the end of Summer classes, CPU could be heard in the college hallways from MP3 players.

* * *

Next Chapter:  
A trip halfway around the world  
Hideki begins attending college  
But something just isn't the same anymore


	20. Have a nice TRIP, see you next FALL

Chapter 20: Have a nice trip, see you next Fall

* * *

"What in the world is that thing, Chi?", Hideki asked. Chi had just arrived home after her last class of Summer holding a big plastic aquarium with several compartments. "It's a thing to bring back some eels in", she explained. "Dr. Ookido let me borrow it."

All the stuff they'd need for the trip was packed, and soon they'd be on the plane. "Brazil, Brazil, a week in Brazil", Chi was chanting as they headed out the door, prompting Hideki to go into one of his "Oh she's so **CUUUUTE**" swoons.

* * *

"Make sure you shut those persocoms down before they go in the plane", the luggage handler told Yuka and Hideki. "We don't want them bumbling around in there."

"You heard the luggage guy", Yuka said teasingly to Ataru. "So don't get_ too_ rowdy down there in the cargo hold."

"I wish we could afford passenger tickets for you", Hideki told Chi.

Chi and Ataru closed their eyes and lay motionless on the cargo palette, and as the humans boarded the plane, the persocoms were loaded via the luggage entrance.

* * *

"Psst, Chi", Ataru whispered as the plane was taxiing down the runway, "you awake?"

"Yeah", Chi whispered back. "I've never been on a plane before. I wanted to see what it was like."

"So, you like what you see so far?", Ataru joked.

"Yeah right", Chi laughed. "It's pitch dark in here!"

Ataru nudged Chi's elbow. "Hey, let's tap into the security cameras!"

Blink...

Images of the passengers began to flow directly into Chi's and Ataru's processors.

"Wait, here's a forward-pointing camera!"

The runway blurred by at a dizzying speed, and then the ground fell away. Soon the shoreline was visible below. They were out over the ocean.

Feeling of the wall, Chi found a light switch. "Wow, I didn't realize there were so many persocoms in here." The cargo hold was piled with luggage, and about a quarter of it was persocoms.

"Yeah", Ataru replied, "people like to have their own PCs with them, no matter where on Earth they go. Can't say I blame them, though. If Yuka was a persocom, I'd bring her along wherever I went."

"You're more than just Yuka's persocom, of course", Chi commented, having seen they way they carried on at college.

"I am now", Ataru replied. "But a year and some ago, that's all I was. Her persocom." He stared Chi right in the eye. "That program you ran, that signal you transmitted, made all the difference."

Chi nodded. "Did you know I almost didn't get to run it?"

"So I've heard", Ataru replied in a serious tone. "Imagine me, still just following my programs, never giving a moment's thought to my OWN feelings or wants. For TWO YEARS I had feelings for Yuka and it didn't even occur to me to tell her. It just wasn't in my programming to think about such things."

"So, Ataru", Chi asked, "How did Yuka react when you told her?"

"Um...", he giggled, "her immediate response was '**ERMAGHERD!**'"

Ataru was making surprised-looking hand gestures to go with his quote, and Chi cackled loudly at the parody. Then she blushed somewhat. "I shouldn't laugh, its not her fault she needed a retainer..."

"Don't worry, Chi", Ataru assured her, "Yuka has a sense of humor about such things..."

Above them could be heard the sound of a latch being pulled. Someone was opening the trapdoor to the cargo hold. Quickly, Chi turned off the light, and the two of them pretended they were shut down.

"I swear I heard a shout or something from down here", one of the flight attendants told another as she descended the ladder. She turned on the light and gave the room a quick once-over. "Are you sure it really came from down here?", the other stewardess asked. Finding nothing amiss, the stewardesses soon went back to their passengers.

"That was close", Chi whispered as soon as the trapdoor was closed.

"I guess that's what she meant by 'don't get too rowdy down there in the cargo hold'", Ataru commented quietly, remembering Yuka's advice.

"So, how did Hideki react, Chi, when you told him?"

Chi facepalmed at the question, and shook her head slightly. "He froze in panic", she deadpanned. "Just stood there like he couldn't decide."

"That must have been tough", Ataru whispered.

Chi took on a pained expression. "Tough? It was _excruciating_."

* * *

"What _IS_ this thing?", Hideki asked Yuka, looking half confused, half disgusted. "Some kind of protein briquette?" He sniffed at it, still trying to identify the rectangular piece of ...something... on his tray.

"I think it's supposed to be a steak", Yuka replied, tapping hers against the side of her tray. "Eh, airline food", she added, as they began gnawing on the pieces of... um... whatever it was they'd been served.

"I hope Chi's ok down there", Hideki mumbled, his mouth full of airline 'food'.

"Chi tells me she was custom-built by Dr. Mihara himself", Yuka commented.

"He built her as his daughter", Hideki replied. "Is Ataru custom-built, too?"

Yuka shook her head. "Ataru is a model MX22a from International Persocom Manufacturing. A fairly high-end PC..."

* * *

Chi, who had just been checking out the security cameras again, nudged Ataru's elbow. "I didn't know you were an IPM."

"Yep", he replied. "Yuka's uncle got me at the Army surplus store in Rio."

"Army surplus?", Chi repeated. "Are you programmed to protect the populace?"

Ataru gave an ironic-sounding chuckle. "Sure. I can protect people from budget problems. I was originally designed for accounting."

"Number cruncher", Chi teased. "Just like an IPM."

"Number-crunching ledgers for the Brazilian army", Ataru confirmed, rolling his eyes in mock nostalgia. "BOR-ING."

"Once they offered some Brazilian troops to join one of those U.S. joint-operation things", he added. "And you know what the U.S. president said?"

"I don't know", Chi giggled. "'tanks but no tanks'?"

"'tanks', that's a good one", Ataru responded. Then he gave Chi a devious smile. "He said 'Hey, that's great! ... How many is a brazillion?'"

"...brazillion...", Chi chuckled softly.

"You have a big piece of lint in your hair, Ataru", Chi noticed, and, reaching out her hand, gently combed it out for him.

Ataru smiled gently at Chi, looked deep into her big brown eyes...

And then blushed beet-red and looked really embarrassed.

Chi turned away looking mortified. "I... um... I wonder how the... the humans are doing", she stammered.

"Uh... it looks like they're starting to go to sleep", Ataru observed, still blushing. "We should probably shut down awhile too. Even persocoms can get J.. um, Jet Lag."

"Good idea", Chi stated. "See you in Brazil."

Ataru nodded. Then, with a single "beep", went into sleep mode.

Chi lay awake awhile, wishing she had been designed with the ability to go instantly to sleep. She also wished she hadn't been designed with quite such a complete set of complicated human-like emotions.

* * *

Chi awoke to find Hideki picking her up off the luggage palette. Ataru and Yuka were standing nearby, suitcases in their hands.

They were in Brazil.

Someone was waiting for them, across the road from the airport, in a jacked-up crew-cab stomper truck with big knobby tires. It was Yuka's uncle Arthur.

A long drive down an extremely muddy road, and they were at the home of Yuka's aunt and uncle. A wobbly screen door was flung open and several school-age kids ran out across the yard. "Hey Mom!", one of them shouted back at a woman who was standing in the open doorway. "Yuka brought a _HUMAN_ with her this time!"

"Ah, you must be Hideki", the woman called out as she stepped off the porch.

"What's she saying?", Hideki asked. It hadn't occurred to him that Yuka's relatives wouldn't be speaking Japanese.

Chi had downloaded a word list onto San, and managed to give Hideki a rough translation. Hideki bowed in greeting.

"This is Chi and Hideki Motosuwa", Yuka introduced them. "And Motosuwa, this is my aunt Emily." Then she pointed out her cousins, Juan, Pedro, and Erin.

"This Motosuwa guy must be pretty well-off", Erin cooed. "Look at his computer!"

"Look at his suitcases", Arthur cut in, holding up two rather ragged suitcases from out of the truck.

"It's complicated", Chi told them. "We don't really have much money."

"Come on, Yuka", Emily told her. "I've got a guest room all cleaned up for you and your new boyfriend. And your computers, too."

"Um, Aunt Emily, he's not actually..."

* * *

Life in rural Brazil reminded Hideki a little bit of his family's Hokkaido farm. Plenty of animals, plenty of crops, and no traffic jams. Only it was a lot hotter. It was like living in a sauna.

In the mornings, Chi would be the first one up, getting her fishing gear ready and her hair tucked away under the safari hat she'd bought back in Tokyo. Then it was off to the swamps, with Hideki, Yuka, and Ataru, for an hour or 3. The bulk of their days in Brazil they spent relaxing at the farm, enjoying the kind of peace and quiet that only a rural area can provide.

"Are you avoiding Chi?", Yuka asked Ataru, somewhat teasingly, as they were fishing in a swamp near the farm. "You two have hardly said a word to one another since we got to Brazil."

"Oh, um...", Ataru stammered, "uh... what's to say?"

Hideki looked at Chi, only to find her in a facepalm. "You two didn't get in an argument on the plane, did you?", he asked Chi.

"Ah, it.. it's nothing, really...", Chi replied, blushing deeply.

"You weren't teasing her, were you?", Yuka guessed. "Chi's sense of humor might not be as developed as yours."

"...Oh.", Ataru said simply, not wanting to let on what had really happened.

"I, um... I didn't mean to act that way, there on the plane", he told Chi.

"Don't worry about it, Ataru", Chi replied. "Actually, what bothers me is the way _I_ acted."

"(Ataru's humor can be a bit over-the-top, sometimes)", Yuka told Hideki, and Hideki, taking one look at Yuka, broke out laughing. It took Yuka a moment to realize that Ataru was standing behind her, putting 'antlers' on her head.

"Come here, you", Yuka laughed, turning around to give Ataru a hug.

Hideki put his arms around Chi, and they spent a few moments just listening to the sounds of the jungle around them.

Then they resumed their fishing.

Chi cast her line into the swamp again, and sat there wondering if she'd ever be able to tell Hideki that she had almost kissed Ataru.

"I GOT A BITE!", Hideki shouted. And with an expertise he had learned from years of fishing in rural Hokkaido, he reeled it in. Chi positioned the aquarium under the wriggling eel. "Don't pull the hook out by hand, it'll shock the snot out of you!", she warned. Once the eel, still on the line, was lowered into the aquarium, she pulled out a pair of insulated-handled pliers and dislodged the hook.

By Thursday, she had all the eels her aquarium could comfortably hold.

* * *

Hideki awoke on Friday morning to the smoky smell of something being barbecued (No, it wasn't the eels; they were still in their aquarium by the bed).

He followed the scent outside to find a big charcoal grill on the patio, and Arthur with a spatula in his hand. It looked like the whole family was outside, setting up picnic tables, bringing out food, joking around...

"Wow, an outdoor barbecue!", he drooled.

Just then, a sputtering old tractor pulled into the yard, and about half a dozen more people piled out of the wagon it was hauling. "Smell that a mile away!", the guy on the tractor shouted as he shut it down and hopped off.

"Emily's brother Antoine and his family", Yuka told Hideki.

Antoine pulled a pipe from his shirt pocket, dipped it in a bag of ...something... and lit it. Hideki recognized the scent. "Is that stuff legal in Brazil?", he asked, and Yuka translated for him.

"No", Antione replied, laughing. "Want some?"

Hideki took a double lungful of the sweet-smelling smoke, and... um... well...

Actually, I don't really remember what happened over the next hour or 2...

* * *

"Good barbecue!", Hideki told Arthur, after at least his third helping of ribs, beans, and practically every other kind of food that was there.

"Glad you like it", Arthur replied.

"I see you're starting to speak some Portuguese", Chi observed.

"Yeah, some...", Hideki replied. "I've been talking to old what's-his-face over there."

"Done told ya my name's Diego", someone replied from a nearby lawn chair. "Are you having a memory parity error, or did Antione slip you some of that green stuff he likes to smoke?"

Chi gasped at the sight of Deigo, the most beat-up, ratty-looking persocom she'd ever seen. "What happened to you, Diego?"

"Hell, what **didn't** happen to me?", Diego replied, rocking back in his chair. "I used to work in the silver mines, up in Bolivia."

Diego began to describe the El Tio mines, in which by some estimates 8 million people have died in the last 500 years.

"Holy shit", Hideki gasped.

"Nothin' holy 'bout that place, it 'uz just plain shit", Diego joked. "After that, Antoine's farm is a cake walk."

The sound of Samba music could be heard from the side yard, and Diego, his servos grinding like an old forklift, slowly stood up, putting his hand on Hideki's shoulder for balance. "C'mon, meatbag", he teased, "let's see if you and Chi can dance to some Sam-ba."

As it turned out, Chi and Hideki could dance quite well to some Samba music, as could most of the people in attendance. Hideki even surprised Chi by singing along to some of the lyrics. In Portuguese.

* * *

"Where's Hideki?", Chi asked as Antoine's family was heading home. She had just spent a pretty good while talking to Erin, who was still deciding which college to try to get into.

"Over here!", Arthur replied from across the yard. "He had been down there at the wagon, drinking with Antoine's folks."

Hideki slowly zigzagged his way across the lawn towards Chi, drinking clear liquid out of what looked like a mayonnaise jar. As he finished his drink, he dropped the jar on the ground and then tripped over it.

"Oh no", Chi groaned, as she helped him up. "How much of that stuff did you drink already?"

"Only about thish much", he replied, gesturing to indicate how much the jar had had in it when he started.

It was almost dark by then, and they headed into the house. "Oh, I'm so stuffed", he groaned as he went up the several steps to the porch.

"You're pretty good at that Samba", Chi told him. "You've even learned a bit of Portuguese. I'm impressed."

"Washn't that hard once I shtarted talking to everone", Hideki replied, doing a rather slowed-down Samba move on his way down the hallway.

Back in the guest room, and giving the eel tank a wide berth, Hideki took Chi by the hand and gave her a bit of a spin, and Chi, putting a hand on her safari hat, struck a pose like she was modelling her outfit.

"Oh Chi -HIC- you look sho cute in that jungle shafari outfit!", he slurred. And with reckless abandon, he helped her out of her little outfit. In seconds, their clothes were strewn across the floor.

"Oh Chi", he cooed. "Oh baby, oh bab-_BLLUUUOOORRRGGHHHHH!_"

"AAAAAAAAGH!", Chi screamed. "HIDEKI!"

"Oh shit", Hideki gasped. He had just puked all over Chi.

"I'm shorry, Shi, I'm sho shorry...", he blathered. "I'll... I'll clean thish up just a minuth, I'll... I... uhhh... *FLOP* ZzzZZZzzz..."

Chi rolled the now passed-out Hideki off of her and got to her feet. A quick check to be sure he was still breathing, then out the door she went, crying, naked, and covered in vomit.

"**DAMMIT!**", she wailed.

Muffled gasps from nearby told Chi she wasn't alone out there on the porch. Ataru and Yuka were in a rocking chair, watching the moon come up.

"Holy cow, Chi, what happened?", Yuka asked in shock as she reached for the light switch. And under the bright glare of the outdoor floodlights, Yuka and Ataru gasped at the disgusting mess that was all over Chi. "Let's get you hosed off!", Yuka blurted out, covering her mouth, and she and Ataru escorted Chi to where a garden hose was attached to the side of the house.

It took awhile to get all the upchuck off of Chi. After rinsing her hair numerous times, she got in the tub for a nice bubble bath. {If only he knew when to stop...}, she thought.

When Chi got out of the tub, she found her one outfit that was still clean waiting for her on the towel rack. Heading back outside, she found Hideki, still unconscious, on the lawn, Ataru hosing the puke off of him while Yuka mopped the floor.

"There must be an infinite-loop bug in Hideki's OS", Ataru commented. "One sip of alcohol, and he just keeps on drinking until it crashes him."

"That's alcoholism", Yuka clarified. "And yeah, it is like his brain has a glitch in it."

"Once we get back to Tokyo", she told Chi, "we need to get Hideki some help."

* * *

Next chapter:  
Back to Tokyo, and Hideki finally goes to college.  
Eventually, I'll get around to checking on some of the characters I've neglected.


	21. Totally Trashed

Chapter 21: Totally Trashed

* * *

Chi gave her eel tank a pre-flight check.

She replaced the water in each compartment, and made sure the lids were securely closed. Then she gave Erin a big hug, wished her luck in her college search, and loaded her stuff onto the truck.

Hideki packed his suitcases. Or rather, he tossed his wrinkled clothes haphazardly into them and stomped them shut. Then, still barely awake, he stumbled out the door and into a world that was way too bright. Squinting from the morning sun, he managed to tell Yuka's relatives goodbye in Portuguese, and found Arthur's truck waiting for him.

Then it was off to the airport.

* * *

"You okay, Chi?", Ataru whispered, once they were in the plane. Chi was sitting quietly near the aquarium, looking depressedly at the floor. She didn't answer.

"You're worried about Hideki, aren't you?", Ataru persisted. Chi nodded silently. "Yuka and I are worried about him, too", he added.

Chi still looked despondent. "I guess you know, I screamed at him the other night", she deadpanned.

"And now you feel like a goat?", Ataru guessed, and a bleak look from Chi told him his guess was right.

Ataru leaned back against Yuka's suitcases. "From what I've read, that's the norm when you're dealing with an alcoholic. I'd probably scream too, if Yuka were to get drunk and throw up on me."

"You ever screamed at Yuka?", Chi asked.

"Well...", Ataru responded, "I did kind of yell at her that time she tried to install some software I didn't want."

"Against your will?", Chi asked, looking a bit surprised. "I wouldn't have thought she'd try that."

"Well, that WAS nearly a year ago, not long after I had told her how I felt about her", he explained, "and I don't think it had really sunk in for her yet that you don't just install software on your boyfriend without his consent. Even if he IS a persocom."

"So, how'd you feel afterwards?", Chi asked, her despondence turning to curiosity.

"Scared, mostly...", he answered. "I had just shouted 'NO! That's a STUPID program, I DON'T WANT IT!', and she was staring at me like she was in shock. I was afraid she was gonna dump me, or even reformat me. But... You know what?"

"Um...", Chi surmised, "It looks like things turned out okay..."

Ataru nodded. "Yeah, like immediately. She hugged me and cried", he told her. "And it was like she saw me for the first time that day as someONE rather than someTHING."

"I think Hideki has seen me as someone for awhile now", Chi replied, still looking a bit down. "But I'm worried about hurting him. I was up half the night worrying."

"I think what we need to worry about now is Hideki hurting himself, with his addiction", Ataru told her. "Why don't you get some shuteye, Chi? I'll keep an eye on the eels for the first half of the trip."

"Thanks, Ataru", she replied, finding a spot on the floor to lie down. And soon, she was sound asleep.

* * *

"Ohh, my head", Hideki groaned as he sat in the uncomfortable airline seat. He had tissue paper in his ears to block out the sound, and a napkin over his eyes to block out the light. "Ohhhhhh", he groaned. A flight attendant offered him an aspirin, and he gratefully accepted. Not that it did a lot of good.

At mealtime, Yuka made sure he drank some orange juice, and just hoped he wouldn't throw up on the plane.

* * *

Dr. Ookido met them at the airport. "This definitely calls for some extra credit", he told them, as they piled into his van. "Getting those eels was no easy feat."

He dropped off Chi and Hideki at the Gub Jogasaki, then drove off towards Yuka's apartment.

* * *

"How was your trip, you two?", came a voice from... from... **directly overhead?!**

Chi and Hideki looked up to find Ms. Hibiya, all decked out in some kind of skintight outfit, floating about ten feet above them. She had her visor helmet on, with a small WiFi antenna on top.

"**Miss Manager, what kind of outfit is THAT?!**", Hideki gasped, pointing at her, his mouth hanging wide open as she landed gently beside them. His nose started bleeding, and he dropped one of his suitcases, spilling wrinkled clothes out onto the sidewalk. Chi facepalmed at the scene Hideki was making.

"I think you scared him a bit, there, Chitose", came another, rather amused-sounding, voice from somewhere above. Zima was sitting on the edge of the roof, leaning back against the taller bumpout above the front entrance.

A moment later, he was standing beside them, twirling a bucket of roofing glue around on his finger. He flicked it up in the air, then caught it with his other hand, all without spilling a drop. "Showoff", a smiling Chitose teased him.

"Check out the music channel tonight at 8", she told Chi and Hideki as they were going into the building. "Freya's playing in Osaka this week, and tonight's concert is gonna be shown live on TV!"

* * *

I heard you have an uncle who was treated for alcoholism", Chi emailed Minoru, after she and Hideki had unpacked their suitcases. "Yuka and I both think Hideki needs help. Penny for your thoughts?"

"A second cousin, actually", Minoru emailed back. "I think Kojima is currently trying to quit, also. I'll email him and see what he thinks."

* * *

Chi turned on the TV, and flipped it to the music channel.

The concert hall was packed. Up on the stage, three persocoms and two humans, all gothed up in EGL black, were gathered around a set of microphones. In the center was a magenta drumset, with the band's name ("CPU") on the bass drum in Blackletter calligraphy. Freya was out front, adjusting her microphone stand as the audience began to chant.

Freya started with a gentle, melancholy solo about love and loss, while the drummer, two guitarists, and a bass player waited for the moment. Then, like a thunderstorm opening up on the waiting crowd, they tore open the fabric of space-time.

Some of the songs she sang would rip your heart out. Others would give it back to you. And a lot of nose-blowing could be heard between songs, among those who came for the lyrics. Those who were just there for the metal could be seen forming mosh pits further from the stage.

* * *

By the end of the concert, Chi and Hideki were sitting cuddled in front of the TV, and Minoru had emailed Chi again. "I talked to Kojima", he wrote, "and he sounded curious about my cousin also. How about bringing Hideki over here tomorrow afternoon, Chi? I'll download some info about the All Nippon Sobriety Association."

"I got an email; we're invited over to the Kokobunji place after class tomorrow", Chi told Hideki. "Kojima's going to be there, too."

"Wouldn't miss it", Hideki replied, not even bothering to ask what the occasion was. His mind was still on the concert, his arms still around Chi.

"After... Class!", he added, as though just now remembering that he was starting college the next day. "I should get some sleep." He flopped over onto the mat. "Wake me up early tomorrow, Chi. Now we're BOTH college kids."

* * *

Hideki sat down for his first-ever college class, and waited for the lecture to begin.

But as the other students sat down around him, they were snickering and pointing at him, and Hideki wondered why.

Then the professor, who looked like a blonde Ms. Hibiya, walked in. "Looks like somebody was in a hurry this morning", she chuckled. She was looking right at Hideki.

{What in the world?}, he wondered, blushing.

Then he realized: He had shown up for class in his underwear.

"Oh NO!", he gasped.

"Hideki, what's wrong?", the professor asked.

"I... Um... That is...", he stammered. The bright classroom lights were like a spotlight, keeping him pinned in place and unable to move.

Then the professor put her hands on Hideki's shoulder, and started shaking him. "Hideki, wake up!", she shouted. "It's time to get ready for college!"

Hideki awoke to find Chi kneeling over him. The curtains were open and the bright morning sun was streaming in.

"Oh, Chi!", he gasped in relief. "You wouldn't belive the nightmare I was having!"

* * *

Hideki's first day of college for real turned out okay, although he wasn't sure he understood everything the professors were saying. Some of them talked so fast, he couldn't finish writing his notes before they moved on.

Chi met Hideki in the hallway after class, about 4 o'clock. "Minoru's this afternoon", she reminded him. "Around 6."

"I'll be home as soon as I help these guys move into their new apartment", Hideki told her, pointing at several of his new classmates. "If I'm not home by 5:45, I'll meet you at Minoru's."

* * *

5:45 came and went, and Chi, figuring Hideki had underestimated the amount of furniture they'd be moving, went to Minoru's without him.

Chi arrived at the Kokobunji mansion to find a fair-sized crowd already there. Kojima had brought Kotoko and Sora along, and Yuka was there with Ataru.

"Where's Hideki?", Yuka asked, seeing Chi walk in alone.

"Helping some classmates move into a new apartment", she explained. "Said he'd meet me here when he was done."

"In the meantime", Minoru began, "I have some info here on the All Nippon Sobriety Association."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about joining this", Kojima sighed as he read the pamphlet. "I can't seem to take just a sip or two."

"It sounds like Hideki could probably benefit from that", Ataru commented, after hearing Minoru describe at length his cousin's experience with the ANSA.

"I didn't see Hideki at college today", Yuka told Chi. "How'd it go for him?"

"As far as I know, it went okay", Chi replied. "Although last night, he was so worried he had a nightmare about it."

"A nightmare?", Sora inquired. "What was that about?"

Chi paused a moment, wondering if she should have even mentioned it at all. "Um, he... dreamt he had shown up for class in his underwear, and..."

Chi's description was interrupted by laughter from nearly everyone, and she gratefully neglected to finish describing it.

"Have you had any more dreams, Sora?", Chi asked.

"A few", Sora replied. "After we saw Freya's concert, I dreamt I was a singer up on some stage. But I didn't know what to sing, and I felt kind of stupid."

Minoru nodded. "Dreams, I think, do tend to reflect certain uncertainties."

"I dreamt I was naked in the mosh pit", Yatsumi blurted out. "That was SOME concert, wasn't it?"

"Whoa, that must've been a scary dream", Yuka surmised.

"Hmmm, not so much...", Yatsumi replied with a wry smile. "Those mosh pits look like they could be fun."

"Yeah, that sounds like something you would have drea... Wait a minute?!", Minoru gasped, suddenly realizing what it was Yatsumi was saying. "Since when do _YOU_ dream anything, Yatsumi?"

"Since I copied Sora's sleep-cycle indexing subroutines", she explained almost nonchalantly.

"**You patched your OWN OS?**", Minoru gasped, looking almost spastic. "**How did y...**"

"Easy", Yatsumi replied, putting a calming hand on Minoru's shoulder. "I just modded one of Freya's crazy-code apps. I figured, hey, if it can patch a humor subroutine, why couldn't it patch an indexing subroutine?"

A look of comprehension quickly replaced Minoru's confused stare. "Ah... quite an idea; I'll have to take another look at those Crazy-Code apps", he replied, sounding rather impressed. "But still, that's kind of dangerous. You could crash your OS doing that."

"I have my data backed up", she stated proudly. "You could restore me in like two minutes."

"Well, I COULD...", Minoru replied teasingly.

"Ah, you wouldn't leave your favorite maid in such a state as.. **AACK!**", Yatsumi yelped. A rubber band had just bounced off the side of her head.

"_OOOOO, somebody's jealouuuus_", she taunted, looking across the table at Yuzuki, who was sitting there, looking just a bit ...TOO... innocent. Her smirk gave her away.

Sora looked on with confused fascination as the two persocoms started a rubber-band shootout, which quickly spread to include nearly everyone in attendance. After a few minutes, everyone was laughing, and the humans were ready to sit down and drink some cold lemonade.

"Okaaaay, THAT was strange...", Sora commented, looking like she didn't know quite what to make of the mayhem she had just seen. "I bet I'll be having some dreams about that one."

"Yeah, I bet you will, too", Kotoko chuckled, shooting one final rubber band straight up in the air.

"So, Kotoko", Yatsumi asked, "you still monitoring Sora's database for anomalies?"

Kotoko shook her head. "No, just the normal occasional checks anyone would do on a persocom. I've gotten so used to the idea of her dreaming, it almost seems... well... abnormal... that _I don't_ dream."

"I know how to fix** that**", Yatsumi offered, flashing a mischievous grin.

"Um, actually, Yatsumi, I can...", Kotoko started to say...

"Hey Minoru, you wanna review my modified crazy-code before Kotoko copies it?", she added, glancing over at Minoru. He didn't seem to notice.

Minoru was happily sipping on a cold lemonade, and leaning back in the lawn chair he was now sharing with Yuzuki. She was behind him, and she had him in a bear hug, which kind of reminded Chi of herself and Hideki as they watched Freya's concert the previous night.

"Where the heck IS he, anyway?!", she wondered out loud.

* * *

It was after 9, and Hideki was still a no-show. {Maybe he just forgot}, Chi hoped. It was the least bad of the possibilities. "If he's not at home", Minoru told her, "email us and we'll all go looking for him."

Chi left the Kokobunji place and headed for home, hoping he'd be there, sitting at the table, studying, wondering where she had been all evening.

About halfway home, as Chi was walking by a dumpster, she noticed something strange lying up on top of the trash bags. It looked like someone had chucked out a persocom. A big one, too. It was all wrapped up in... (what is that, toilet paper?) from head to toe like a mummy, and Chi wondered if that was what she had looked like when Hideki first found her.

{**OH** that's creepy}, she thought, as she looked at the limp human-like form atop the trash heap, and remembered Zin's funeral. {There ought to be a better way to dispose of us than **that**!}

Moving closer to investigate, Chi began pulling the toilet paper away from its head. {Geez, did they even TRY to repair... ?}

* * *

*Click*

Illegal function call in persocom facial recognition software  
Database record not found, search term "Motosuwa look-alike"  
Overvoltage warning, carpal servo controller circuit

*Click-Click*

* * *

"**HIDEKI?!**", she gasped.

He was unconscious, and Chi couldn't wake him. {He's still breathing}, she verified, holding her hand near his nose as he exhaled.

"I found Hideki", she quickly emailed, attaching an image of her passed-out human, still lying there in the trash, the rest of him still wrapped up in toilet paper.

Back at the apartment, Chi plopped him down on the mat, and threw a towel over him. "We need to reschedule ASAP", she emailed her friends. "I can't let him go on like this."

* * *

Next chapter: I think he'll finally be getting some help... but he's not out of the woods yet.


	22. Hell Toupee

(Ok, **this** ought to put that alcoholism issue to rest, at least for now)

* * *

Chapter 22: Hell Toupee

* * *

"**OH NO!**", Hideki gasped. "I can't find my college books!" He was already up, searching the apartment in a panic. "Chi", he asked, "have you seen my books anywhere?"

Chi slowly opened her eyes. She had expended a lot of energy carrying him home, and wasn't really done recharging yet.

"Hideki", she groaned, "it's nowhere near time to get up yet."

Chi closed her eyes again. "I couldn't find your books either. Those guys you helped move probably have them."

"So, I didn't bring th...", he started to ask. But Chi had gone back to sleep. Hideki lay awake, trying to remember exactly where he had left his books. He was drawing a blank.

* * *

Chi didn't seem too talkative on the way to class, and Hideki was noticing.

"What's wrong, Chi?", he asked. "Something happen?"

"Oh, just the usual", she deadpanned. "You got plastered."

"I... may have had a few", he began, "with those guys I helped move into their new..."

"A _few?_", Chi cut in. "You were passed out on a trash heap, all wrapped up in toilet paper!"

"No way!", Hideki gasped in disbelief. But the look on Chi's face told him she was serious.

"Okay", he admitted, I know I need to cut back on the alcohol, Chi, and I will."

Chi wasn't convinced. "Are you sure you can, Hideki? By yourself, without help?"

"Sure I can", he replied, looking a bit insulted. "I don't like being lectured, Chi."

"And** I** don't like being _VOMITED ON!_", she shot back; and for the first time since it was Freya inhabiting her, Hideki clearly saw anger in Chi's eyes.

They passed the rest of their walk to class in silence, Hideki wanting to say ...something... but he didn't know what. He knew, had vomited on her once, and she had had to clean up after him a few times... Was it really that bad?

As they turned to go down different hallways to their separate classes, he waved weakly, and opened his mouth... but no words came out. Blushing deeply, he walked into class and sat down.

* * *

"Have you seen my books?", he asked the two guys he'd helped move.

"Yeah, I figured you'd want these", one of them chuckled, handing him his books.

"Way to go, DUDE!", the other one told him, holding his hand up for a high-five. "You two really hit it off at that apartment-warming party!"

"Apartment-warming party?" Hideki blurted out in surprise. "I... Um... don't actually remember..."

After class, they told Hideki how he had gotten rip-roaring drunk at their wild apartment-warming party, and Hideki vaguely remembered a few of the events they described. But only a few.

"Who was the girl?", Hideki asked, and the two roommates looked at each other. "Uh... One of my sister's classmates, I think..."

Then they told him how he'd left the party with her around 8:00.

Hideki tried to remember what had happened next. But all he could recall were bits and pieces; her silly grin; the sound of her voice; the feel of the cool night air; the softness of her body-

Hideki's blood ran cold. He hoped he hadn't done anything stupid.

"Stop trying to high-five me!", he complained. "I feel really weird about this..."

"You feel weird about THAT?", they snickered. "_What_ are you, _gay_ or something?"

"**NO...**", Hideki growled, waving his fists randomly around. "I have a girlfriend already."

Dufus and Dumbus (I'm not gonna dignify these two idiots by giving them human names) looked at each other, and then tried yet again to high-five Hideki. "DUDE! ya got TWO NOW!", one of them told him as they parted ways for another class.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Chii!", Hideki blurted out the moment he spotted Chi in the hallway. "You were right all along!"

"Chiii!", He shouted, running after her. "Chi, that pamphlet you had at the apartment this morning, that ANSA thing... How do I get into that?"

Chi stared into Hideki's eyes for a moment, like she was wondering if he was serious or not. "Minoru's", she finally said. "6 O'clock."

Hideki bowed his head in confirmation. "I'll be there, Chi, I promise! Whatever happens, I'll be there, I swear it, Chi!"

Hideki spent his last class of the day in a cold sweat. He knew he had put Chi through quite enough already, and he didn't want to upset her more by forgetting to show up.

"I have some lab work I have to finish before I head over to Minoru's", Chi told Hideki in the hallway after class. "Kojima is going to be there at 6, and I'll be along around 6:30, okay?"

Hideki nodded. Back at the apartment, he kept an eye on the clock, and at 5:45 he set aside his studies and headed straight for Minoru's.

* * *

"Excuse me", a voice called out from a nearby street corner. "Might we have a word with you?" It was the police.

"What about?", Hideki asked.

They led Hideki into the police station, back to the same room he remembered being questioned in over his behavior outside an underwear shop a year earlier.

"Someone fitting your description was seen kicking over flower pots at the mall last night", they told him. "Around 8:30 PM. Rip-roaring drunk, it would seem. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I'd had a few", Hideki admitted, blushing, "but I don't remember being anywhere near the mall."

More questions followed. Apparently, someone fitting Hideki's description had also grabbed a man's toupee, right off of his head, and asked "**Is this a gerbil?**"

* * *

It was nearly 7:30 when the police were done with him, and Hideki sprinted the rest of the way to Minoru's. Out of breath, he rang the doorbell and went in.

No one was there but Minoru and his persocoms.

"Where's Chi?", Hideki asked, still panting. "And Kojima?"

"Chi left a few minutes ago", Minoru replied, "and Kojima never showed up. We figured you and Kojima were out drinking somewhere."

"**CHIIIIII!**", he screamed, and ran back to his apartment. Chi wasn't there. Neither were her books or her charging unit.

Panicking, Hideki nearly fell down the stairs on his way to Ms. Hibiya's apartment. "Miss Manager!", he wailed, knocking on her door. "I can't find Chi!"

Ms. Hibiya answered the door, and, stepping out into the hallway, closed it behind her. She studied Hideki's panicked expression, his nervous pacing, his panting, his profuse sweating... "What drug are you on now, Motosuwa?", she asked.

"Drug... What?!", Hideki gasped in disbelief. "I'm sober I swear it I haven't taken anything not even alcohol nothing I need to explain something to Chiiii!"

"Chi... needs to be alone right now", Ms. Hibiya told him somberly. "I'll tell her you were here."

"Could you tell her something else please?", Hideki asked, tears in his eyes. "Tell her I didn't get drunk again? Tell her I was late because the police were asking lots of questions. Tell her I showed up at Minoru's just after 7:30..."

"You can tell her tomorrow", Ms. Hibiya said softly, going back inside her apartment. "Good night, Motosuwa."

The door clicked quietly shut, and Hideki found himself alone with his tears and his panic.

* * *

Back in his room, he tried to study. It was no use. Chi was upset with him, and Hideki was in hell. "I need a drink - NO I DON'T", he corrected himself. "Not that kind, anyway..." He got some orange juice from the refrigerator instead.

There were several beers in there, too. "I should pour these out", he thought out loud. "No... If I pour these out now, she'll think I drank them."

Wondering where Kojima had been, he picked up the phone and called. Takana answered. "Ah, Motosuwa", she chuckled. "Last time I saw you, we had just put a dress on you. How you doing?"

"Not so good, actually", he groaned. "Is Kojima there?"

"Kojima is, um... indisposed... at the moment", Takana explained. "It might be better to call him in the morning."

Hideki spent half the night pacing the floor, staring out the window, trying to read, watching TV... Around 3AM, he finally fell asleep. And his troubles followed him even then. He dreamed he was in prison, in solitary confinement.

* * *

***Click***

Will the prisoner please stand!  
Have you any last words, Motosuwa?  
Footsteps outside the thick metal door, the heavy smell of gunpowder wafting in through the steel bars; today's the day. The rattling of chains, the shackles to be attached for that final journey, that one last walk from the cell to the...

***Click-Click***

* * *

Hideki awoke to the sound of the door opening. It was Chi.

"Please, Chi, I need to explain...", he blurted out as he sat up.

Chi sat down on the floor in front of him and stared, her face devoid of expression.

Hideki told her how the police had questioned him, how he'd shown up at Minoru's a few minutes after she'd left, and how Kojima had been a no-show.

"I have them both on chat right now", Chi responded, holding out a hand to Hideki. "Let's go."

After they both stood up, Hideki hugged Chi tightly, a tear in his eye, and Chi felt something wet on the side of her head. "_I hope that isn't vomit_", she shuddered.

* * *

"Kojima, you look like a truck ran over you!", Hideki gasped as Kojima came stumbling in through the Kokobunji front gate, Kotoko helping him along. "You okay?"

Kojima nodded weakly.

"You were a no-show yesterday", Minoru stated. "Something happen?"

"Uhhhh, well...", Kojima began, "I read in that pamphlet, you should pour out all the booze in the house."

Kotoko brought her lie-detecting software to the foreground. She sensed a lie about to be told.

"So did you?", Minoru asked.

Kojima paused for a moment, then stared resolutely ahead. "It's gone. Down the toilet, all of it", he stated.

Kotoko's lie-detector software was now reading "Major Whopper"

"...ran it through my kidneys first...", Kojima added, rolling his eyes.

Kotoko already had her mouth open, ready to expose his lie, before she realized just what Kojima was saying. "...kidneys...", she mumbled, sounding almost amused.

"This might not be much of a support group", Minoru told them, "but it's a start. My second cousin will be here in a few minutes, and he can explain a bit more about how his experience in the ANSA."

Minoru's cousin told them all how he had awoken one morning in a gutter, nearly drowned on his own vomit, before he realized he needed help. He gave them a list of email addresses and phone numbers, other people to call on, some of them local they could meet in person now and then, at their homes or at the boat park.

He called his list of support friends his "nakama" (buddies), and promised to introduce Hideki and Kojima to them soon.

"I owe you an apology, Motosuwa", Kojima offered. "I kind of got you into all this, offering you all that sake and stuff."

"Ah, I coulda got that stuff anywhere", Hideki told him. "Problem is, I just don't know when to quit."

"Same here", Kojima said to the floor. "And Chi... If I hadn't been getting plastered so often, I'm sure I wouldn't have hatched that stupid kidnapping plot."

"Truth be told", he added, "I didn't abduct you for purely academic reasons."

"How do you mean?", Hideki asked.

"Oh, well LOOK at her", Kojima blurted out, gesturing towards Chi. "She's so _CUUUUTE!_ **Aach...** Motosuwa, I'm having a hard enough time standing up as it is!"

Hideki quickly calmed down. Kojima was, of course, right; Chi was VERY cute.

* * *

Back at the Gub Jogasaki, Hideki pulled his last three beers out of the fridge and just stood there, staring at them.

"So, you're going off the sauce for real?", a voice called out from the hallway. It was Ms. Hibiya.

"Yeah", Hideki answered. "I was... just about to pour these out."

"So, what's stopping you?", she asked.

Hideki stared confusedly at the three cans of beer. "I don't know..."

Ms. Hibiya opened two of the beers. Then, right before his eyes, she double-barreled them.

Hideki's jaw nearly dragged the floor as he watched Ms. Hibiya guzzle two beers at once, and it really totally made him want to absolutely drink that last one himself, right then and there.

"Now you only have one beer to pour out", she told him.

Hideki stood at the sink, holding the one remaining can of beer.

"Do you _**feel** _that, Motosuwa?", Hibiya asked, leaning against the counter, "that gnawing urge to just _CHUG_ it? To just sock that thing back and **_guzzle_ **it all down?"

Hideki nodded.

"That is what you need to Conquer", Hibiya told him.

Hideki turned abruptly away, and, his eyes tightly closed, offered the last beer to Ms. Hibiya.

"I just drank _two_, Motosuwa", she responded. "I don't want that one."

Hideki stood at the sink, and opened his one remaining can of beer.

Then, with a resolute look in his eye, he poured it out.

* * *

"I hope Sora's okay", Kotoko fretted as they left the Kokobunji place. For the first time since Sora's construction, Kotoko had gone somewhere without her, leaving Takana and the other persocoms to babysit.

"I wasn't programmed with a maternal instinct", she added, "but I seem to have developed one anyway."

"You seem to be doing a lot these days I didn't program you for", Kojima said with a smile... or rather, the closest thing he could manage to a smile in his condition.

Surprisingly, Kotoko actually smiled back. "That was some serious candor you showed in there", she told Kojima. "You really impressed me with your honesty... I wouldn't have thought you could tell the truth like that."

"Thanks ...I think...", Kojima replied.

* * *

Kojima and Kotoko entered the house, and it looked like Kotoko's worries about Sora had been unfounded after all. Sora was perusing their large digital library, and Takana was sitting nearby. The other persocoms were attending to their usual activities. Nothing was broken, and no one was hurt. No mayhem or emergencies were occurring.

Although, there did seem to be an inordinate amount of dust hanging in the air...

"Is the heat pump malfunctioning again?", Kojima asked.

Takana got up from her chair. "I'll, uh, check the filter", she offered, and headed down the hall, chuckling quietly.

"I wonder what the joke was this time?", Kojima muttered.

Just then, a large blob of dust wafted by and landed right on top of Kotoko.

Sora took one look at her mother, standing there with that big ball of lint stuck to the top of her head, and started laughing hysterically.

Or should I say, maniacally?

"Ah, jeez", Kotoko facepalmed. **"TAKANA"**

* * *

Next Chapter:

Hideki is _**SOBER**_, and studying hard.  
Big-shot music star Freya comes to visit.

* * *

Still to come (possibly maybe) in later chapters:

Freya has a rather ...strange... problem, at least strange for a persocom.  
Dufus and Dumbus cause some serious trouble.  
The government has noticed how Zima and Chitose are carrying on.  
Sora is growing up fast.

* * *

p.s. Dufus and Dumbus **HAD** to have cheated on their college entrance exam. They're too stupid to have passed it any other way.


	23. Freya's in town

Chapter 23: A visit from Freya

* * *

With a hiss of air brakes and a roar of the engine, the big city bus pulled out from the curb and drove away. Standing on the sidewalk was a cute blonde persocom in a black poofy dress and fancy new sunglasses.

Freya was in town.

With her backpack, black with magenta skulls, slung casually over one shoulder, she sauntered casually along the sidewalk for home. {Wonder how Chi is doing}, she thought.

"CHIIIII", she heard someone scream out loud up ahead. It was Hideki, coming out of the Kokobunji place in a full run.

"Oy, Motosuwa!", she called out. He didn't hear her.

She arrived at the Kokobunji place to find the front gate open, and Minoru looking bewilderedly out at Hideki as he sprinted off down the sidewalk. "Panicking again, is he?", Freya asked.

Minoru turned and stared blankly for a moment at Freya, whose visit was apparently a total surprise. "Huh? Oh, hi Freya... Yeah, I think he and Chi are having some kind of trouble."

"I hope it's nothing serious", she responded, looking worried. "Those two do make a cute couple."

"They'll be fine", Minoru stated confidently. "Oh, and while you're here, Freya... Yatsumi has a bit of code you might be interested in seeing."

"What kind of code?", Freya asked. {Heh, she's got more than just code I'd be interested in seeing}

Yatsumi was leaning casually against the door facing. She had been listening to the conversation. "Guess what I dreamed, Freya?", she teased.

"Did I just hear you say that you dreamed something, Yatsumi?", Freya asked, pulling her sunglasses down to peer out over top of them. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that bit of code Minoru was talking about?"

Yatsumi's smirk turned into a full-on grin. "That's right, girl, I can DREAM", she cackled. "See if you recognize the reason why."

As they wandered over to one of their favorite spots on the forested section of the Kokobunji estate, Yatsumi started telling Freya about the crazy-code she'd modified.

A look of comprehension quickly crept onto Freya's face as she examined the modded crazy-code Yatsumi had just sent her. "Oh, incredible!", she cooed.

"Gotta give credit where credit is due, though", Yatsumi admitted. "Sleep-cycle indexing was your idea, and you_ invented_ Crazy Code."

"And YOU made them work together in a way I would have never ..._ DREAMED_ of!", Freya punned. "Yatsumi, I could just kiss you!"

"That's true", Yatsumi replied coyly. "You could."

She did.

Right away - dropping her jolly-roger backpack, soon to be followed by everything else they had on.

Meanwhile, back at the Gub Jogasaki, Hideki was spending the night all alone, becau...

I _**said**_, Meanwhile back at the... _**WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!**_

**Get** down off of that WALL! And put those binoculars away! Do you want the police to see you?

"What was **that**?", Yatsumi asked, sitting up to look at the top of the Kokobunji perimeter wall. "I thought I saw something, up there on the wall."

Freya turned to look. "I heard it", she confirmed, "probably just a cat, though."

Freya rolled back over onto Yatsumi, planted her tongue on Yatsumi's roof ridges, and made the rest of the world go away.

* * *

ZZZZzzzzzzzz zzZzzzzzzzzzz...

* * *

The morning sun played hide-and-seek among the tall buildings east of the Kokobunji estate as Freya and Yatsumi watched it rise. "Didja dream about me, Freya?", Yatsumi whispered softly.

"I did", Freya replied, smiling in amazement. "I dreamed we were in outer space, just the two of us, flying loops around the stars."

Back inside the mansion, Minoru was on chat with someone. "I'm going to go see my Mom", Freya announced, and, giving Yatsumi one more kiss, set out for home.

By the scenic route.

* * *

Meandering along a nearby creek, she spent at least an hour happily watching the little minnows swim along in the currents as they looked for food.

Then, hopping across a few rooftops, and dawdling down some overgrown back-alley, she finally arrived at the Gub Jogasaki to find Chitose and Zima looking at manga.

Or rather, manga-like drawings of persocoms. Oh, wait a minute... How yummy; they were making sketches.

"I take it things are going pretty well for you two", Freya called out from the open doorway. "Is that another chobit you're designing there?"

"Heh, just tossing around some ideas", Hibiya replied, blushing slightly. "So, how was your tour?"

"Um...", Freya giggled as she sat down. "It was fun... and terrifying."

"Sounds like quite the emotional roller-coaster", Hibiya responded.

Freya took her sunglasses off and stuck them in her hair. "Mom, do you have any idea what it's like to pour your heart out in front of a HUGE crowd?", she asked, leaning forward in her chair. "And they LIKE it, and they **CHEER? GAWD** it's incredible!"

"I don't know what it's like", Hibiya replied, "but I am SO glad to see how happy you are, Freya! We saw your concert. You're such a star! Chi and Hideki thought so too."

"I didn't see them in their room as I approached", Freya responded. "They out somewhere today?"

"They've been over at Minoru's for the last few hours", Hibiya answered, rolling her eyes in the general direction of the Kokobunji place. "Seems Hideki has developed another ...problem..." She did the "bottle-mouth" gesture with her hand to indicate that his ...problem... was drinking.

"Ah, that Motosuwa", Freya shook her head. "If it's not one thing, it's another. Still, I wouldn't want to see them go splitsville or anything."

"I don't see any roofing glue around", Freya noticed as she glanced around the room. "You finally get those leaks fixed?"

Ms. Hibiya nodded. "Got it done easily with the both of us up there."

"Speaking of leak", she added as she got up from her chair, "I'll, uh... be back in a few minutes."

Hibiya headed out to the restroom, and Freya was left alone with Zima who was still drawing. "Nice sunglasses", he told her.

"What'cha drawin' now?", Freya asked, trying to see more of the picture.

Smirking, Zima covered up the page. "This one's for Chitose's eyes only", he chuckled.

The trapdoor was open, and Freya, in a moment of idle boredom, wandered down to the lab.

* * *

Freya walked slowly along in the dim light of the old storage room, the one place where she felt the most in touch with her past.

She studied with nostalgia the complicated pieces of equipment, the dusty crates of persocom parts...

And those colorful, beat-up old action figures that she and her father had had so much fun playing with, so long ago.

As always, this was a room that was fraught with memories. Memories that seemed... like they were from a lifetime ago.

So many of the pieces seemed to just _scream_ "**Dr. Mihara was here!**", Freya could almost believe that he would come prancing in at any moment, laughing that crazy maniacal laugh of his, ready to sweep her away again with some fascinating new thing.

* * *

Ms. Hibiya entered the lab, to find Freya slumped over the side of one of the old crates, drawing lazy circles in the dust with her fingers, and Hibiya was sure she heard her daughter sigh.

"Freya, what's wrong?", she asked.

Freya turned around with tears in her eyes. "Oh, just the same thing that's always been wrong, I guess", she responded weakly. "Silly me, going all nostalgic again."

"Ah, Freya, you're not alone in that", Hibiya sniffled. "Truth be told, I've been known to find myself right where you're standing, doing just what you're doing."

Freya hugged her mother tightly. "**How many years has it been, and I still miss him so much!**", she cried. "**Me too!**", Hibiya cried in reply.

Zima wandered in to find Freya and Chitose, clinging to one another, sobbing inconsolably. He opened his mouth as if to say ...something...

They turned to see him standing there with a very confused look on his face.

"Girl stuff", Hibiya told him, and he at least feigned comprehension.

On their way out of the lab, Ms. Hibiya missed the door, just slightly. "Oh... Excuse me, there", she said to the door frame.

Freya gave a bit of a worried look. "Umm... Mom, you haven't started... drinking again, have you?"

"'Again'?", Hibiya repeated as they went back up the hidden stairway. "You know about before?"

"I _remember_ about before", Freya replied. "Don't forget, Mom, I was hiding inside Elda that whole time..."

Ms. Hibiya put a hand over her mouth in surprise. "That's right", she gasped.

"Sometimes I miss _Elda_, too", Hibiya lamented. "Odd how those things can just tear at your heart like that, isn't it?"

Freya made ready to steady her mother, just in case she tripped on the stairs. "You okay, Mom?"

"Don't worry about the drinking", she assured Freya. "Before, Ichiro had just died, and I was feeling like my whole world had just ...ended... and I guess I did kind of drown my sorrows there for a while. Today is different. Motosuwa is trying to go off the sauce, and I just now chugged down two of his last three beers to drive home a point."

"What kind of a point would that make?", Freya asked, looking a bit skeptical.

"That quitting can be difficult", Hibiya replied, "and Mosotuwa needs to make a really serious effort if he expects stay sober... You snickering, Freya?"

"Just trying to picture it in my mind", Freya replied with a slight smirk.

"Haa, you shoulda seen the look on his face!", Hibiya cackled loudly. "I'm guessing he looked about the same when you chugged that kerosene."

* * *

"Out of beer, eh, Motosuwa?", Freya asked teasingly, when Hideki and Chi showed up at Ms. Hibiya's door.

"Music star Freya!", Chi called out cheerfully.

"Ohhhhh...", Hideki groaned. "I really AM out of beer. I just poured out the last one..."

"I hope I didn't make things too tough on you", Hibiya told him.

"Hey Sis, check this out!", Freya blurted out. "Yatsumi made an app that can set up sleep-cycle indexing. We can DREAM now!"

"Dreaming?", Ms. Hibiya gasped. "Now why didn't Ichiro and I think of that?"

"Is it compatible with our OS?", Chi asked, and Freya smiled broadly. "It must be; I dreamed about outer space last night."

"You ran an app like that without doing a compatibility check?", Ms. Hibiya gasped. "Those indexing routines are really important."

"I... Um...", Freya stammered, blushing. She had run Yatsumi's app without even thinking about it.

* * *

The Motosuwas were in class, Ms. Hibiya was sweeping everything in sight, and Freya was pacing the halls as she edited some new songs she was working on.

Zima was relaxing up on the roof, idly looking for...

"Hey, Chitose", he whispered, landing quietly behind her. "I've been thinking, when the college kids get back from class, how about the five of us spend the afternoon out somewhere?"

"That sounds wonderful", Hibiya cooed. "Any particular place in mind?"

"You'll see", Zima chuckled, fiddling as usual with his sunglasses.

They arrived at a mostly-forested park with ponds, tennis courts, several historical buildings, and a gazebo, and Ms. Hibiya chuckled at Zima's choice. He had taken them to Hibiya Park.

A friendly game of mixed-doubles, a leisurely stroll along the ponds and other sights, and a tour of one of the historic buildings... All in all, an enjoyable day at the park.

* * *

Afterwards, Chi and Hideki headed over to the Funky Eel, a quiet roadside cafe that Yuka and Ataru liked to do their studying in. Chi and Yuka had a joint project they were working on, and they had a lot of work to do.

Chitose opened Freya's backpack, and pulled out the visor helmet she'd stashed there earlier. That and her levitronic longjohns. And after ducking into a restroom to change, Chitose, along with Freya and Zima, were ready to leave the park as well. The 3 of _them_ were going rooftop-hopping.

And as the sun went down from the sky, they went up into it. After watching the sun set from the top of a nearby skyscraper, they took the high scenic route for home.

"You two in a habit of doing this?", Freya asked.

Zima and Chitose looked at each other, and then smiled at Freya. "There are so many cool places up here", they told her.

A bit over halfway home, Freya noticed a familiar multistory house nearby. It was Kojima's place, and she paused to look down at it like something was pulling her. And not just gravity.

"I think I'll drop in on them for a bit", Freya punned, dropping from the edge of the tall building they were on. "Have fun!", Hibiya called to her daughter, as she and Zima hopped over to the next rooftop. And the next.

* * *

"So, how are things in there?", Freya texted Kojima.

"Not bad", he replied. "Been thinking about you, actually. Where are you?"

"Look behind you", Freya texted.

Kojima turned around to see Freya at his study window. And after nearly falling out of his chair in surprise, he rushed over to the window and pulled her inside.

"I've missed you, Freya", he blurted.

"I've been out on tour", she replied.

"I know", he said with a smile, staring into her eyes. "I saw you on TV. You sounded awesome!"

"So, you caught Sunday's concert?", Freya asked, expecting a yes.

"Sunday?", Kojima repeated in surprise. "No, but I'm sure that was you I saw last Thursday, for about 15 minutes."

"Ah, that was an intro act", Freya replied. "We were opening for Pig Venom."

"I know I haven't called you", Kojima confessed. "I've been so busy with things. Kotoko was constructing Sora, and I got behind on my research..."

"And my tour schedule has been pretty intense", Freya added. "We haven't exactly had any time for each other..."

"You're going back out on tour, aren't you?", Kojima asked, and Freya nodded.

"I'm going back out tomorrow", she replied.

"You've been on my mind the whole time", Kojima told her, "and right now, I don't want to think about tomorrow. I..."

Freya put a finger over Kojima's lips.

"There _IS_ no tomorrow", she whispered; "there is no yesterday; there is only right now."

And Kojima held on to her as though tomorrow would never come.

* * *

BEEP!

The two little green dots on the screen shone brightly in the darkened room, and the government's top cybersecurity expert squinted in disbelief. One dot was labelled "Zima". The other one was labelled "Dr. Mihara's Laboratory".

What was weird was that they were BOTH moving. Sure, Zima had been hanging around the Mihara lab (now run by Chitose Hibiya) a lot recently. But what had he done now? Taken it with him somehow?

Wait a minute! They were both at least 30 meters up in the air!

"What the fuck?!", she growled, her angry umber eyes glaring in confusion at the flickering screen.

"SOLLWERT!", she called out to the government's new national databank, a short, stocky, completely emotionless and ...supposedly... unhackable persocom imported from Germany.

"What is your request, Dita?", the databank monotoned.

"What do you have new on the Mihara lab?", she demanded.

"The roof of the building it is in has been recently patched", he announced. "Some sort of adhesive membrane, it would seem."

"Something that might explain why it's FLYING, you fat refrigerator!"

Sollwert thought for a moment, then activated the big LCD on the wall behind them.

"Some video, caught by a passing police car", he explained. The video showed Ms. Hibiya, going SPLAT against the side of the Gub Jogasaki building, while Freya looked on in horror. "It would seem", Sollwert surmised, "that Ms. Hibiya has been playing with levitronic circuitry."

"Oh, I see it", Dita declared. "She's got that WiFi antenna on her helmet... The scanner shows it as the Mihara lab, but it's really just Ms. Hibiya!"

The next video, shot from a nearby building, showed Chitose and Zima going rooftop-hopping. "What do they think they're DOING?", she wailed, staring wide-eyed at the LCD.

A wave of nausea swept over Dita, and she belched out a puff of blue smoke as the video continued, showing the two of them hovering just above a communications tower.

"**OH, BLAAUGH!**", she yelped, turning violently away from the big LCD screen. "They're making out up there!"

"Are you functioning properly, Dita?", Sollwert asked in a rather academic tone. "Your behavior seems not what I would have predicted."

"I feel like I've got foam in my oil!", Dita gasped, her pupils shrunken to dots, her fingers gripping the rim of the recycle tank. "**ZIMA YOU BIG IDIOT!**", she groaned.

* * *

"What happened?!", Dita demanded, suddenly finding herself in a diagnostic bay, data cables connected to her ears.

"Hold still, please", the I.T. guy told her. "You spewed oil all over the place, and then faulted out on overtemp. We need to finish these diagnostics."

"Diagnostics?!", Dita repeated. "What FOR?"

"I need to find out what caused the malfunction", the I.T. guy told her. "Patience, Dita, it'll just be a few more minutes."

"Yeah well my patience is running a bit thin right now", she replied huffily, "and if you don't finish up soon, I'm gonna drop a live octopus down your shorts."

* * *

Tomorrow did come. It dawned bright and early on the 3-story residence, and it dawned on Freya as she woke up with Kojima that maybe this wasn't the brightest of ideas. What would Yatsumi think? Hell, what would Kojima think if he knew about Yatsumi?

Plus, she was going back out on tour again today.

"Freya...", Kojima drooled as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Leaving already?"

"Like they say, the show must go on", Freya replied in a resolved, if somewhat sad tone, looking over at Kojima with confusion. "My tour resumes."

"You could stay local, Freya", Kojima suggested. "There are plenty of venues to sing at right here in Tokyo."

"You could come with me, Kojima", Freya suggested, "and experience the call of the open road, the rush of the big concert, the roar of the crowd..."

Freya and Kojima stared at each other for a while, and it seemed like they were looking at one another across a great distance, or through a thick pane of glass.

"I'll be in town again", she reminded him, and though he already knew that, hearing it from Freya seemed somehow to blunt the pain he was facing, the fact that she was leaving again, probably for weeks. A sad little kiss goodbye, and she was gone.

"Why are you staring out the window like that?", came a voice from the hallway. Kotoko was awake.

* * *

Next Chapter (probably; I'm not sure yet):  
Kojima is obsessing about Freya  
What else...? I'll think of something in a week or 3


End file.
